


Silence At The Asylum

by 0Lauren0 (AnimeMangaZoo)



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-15
Updated: 2012-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-31 05:38:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/340530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimeMangaZoo/pseuds/0Lauren0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three bodies found connected to a psychiatric hospital. New emotions surface, tensions form and problems arise. Can everyone work together and hold on through it all to solve the murders? After season 6.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE ORIGINAL BONES CAST OR INFORMATION!

Chapter 1

"Neal Baker." A tall man with shaggy auburn hair greeted them as Booth and Brennan walked past the yellow tape. "This is my explosives technician, James Powell. The building was supposed to be demolished two months ago, but budget cut backs and everything it was put off. Jimmy and me were going through setting the explosives and doing a last sweep of the building when we found it."

"It?" Brennan asked.

"A body." James said.

"If you could even call it that." Neal added as he led them to the door of the building. "It's on the 11th floor in the middle of the hallway. You can't miss it. The smell and…." He trailed off disgusted with remembering the look of the body.

"Thanks." Booth said as he and Brennan started their walk up to the remains. "How're you feeling?" He asked as she walked beside him making her look at him confused. "You know with the hormones and sickness and stuff." He explained.

"I am fine. It seems my hormones have yet to throw my body into disarray." She told him as they reached the third floor. Booth went silent as he watched her walk ahead of him taking the stairs slightly faster than he was. By the eighth floor they were both starting to wear down and at the ninth floor they stopped to rest.

"Who takes a body up eleven flights of stairs?" Booth asked. "They couldn't of just leave it on the first floor for us?" He breathed out as Brennan looked at him confused. "Let's just get this over with." He said and the two continued their walk up the last two flights coming out to see FBI technicians walking all around. Brennan walked down the hall to find the Skeletal remains with little left of the soft tissue while a large stain could be seen around the remains. "What do you think, Bones?"

"Brow ridge and the Pelvis suggest Female. Approximately 35 to 40 years old. Her bones have extensive damage; I'll be able to determine from what when I look at them back at the lab." She said looking up from where she knelt. She leaned forward farther to look at the remains more closely only to have the floor suddenly give way. She started to fall before Booth grabbed her arm to stop her. He pulled her back up and onto the solid floor as she held onto him tightly.

"You okay, Bones?" Booth asked as she slowly let go and other agents and technicians came running.

"Yes. I'm fine." She said taking a deep breath to calm her adrenalin crazed body. "The remains fell…" She said as she went to look through the hole only to have Booth pull her back.

"Bones." He scolded. "The floor is weak; don't go looking after you almost fell through." He said before he stood and helped her to her feet. "Box it up and ship it all to the Jeffersonian." He told the others as he and Brennan started on their way out of the building. Once at the car he opened the passenger side for and she sat in the seat while he looked at the cuts she had gotten on her arm.

"Booth, I'm fine. It's just a few scratches." She said taking her arm back.

"I know Bones, but you could have gotten hurt worse." He said worriedly.

"But I didn't. Can we just go back to the lab so when the remains get there I can start?" She asked getting frustrated with how he was acting. He sighed before he got into the car and they went towards the lab. Letting her out in front of the Jeffersonian she told him she would call him when she found something and went in to wait for the remains while he went to his office.

It took an hour for the remains to reach the lab. The team jumped into action. They laid the remains out and started their work. Brennan was the last one standing at the remains as she went over every detail before having Wendell clean the bones. Hodgins was sifting through the debris and the items found at the scene trying to finds everything he could, Cam was working on talking with police and the media while Angela was in her office with Michael. She was not supposed to be back to work but she could not seem to just go home and sit around. Besides, she knew they were going to need her to do a reconstruction. Five hours after the remains arrived at the Jeffersonian Angela decided to go see how everyone was doing while Michael slept. She wandered into see her husband finally done sifting and was onto analyzing.

"Hey." She said as she walked in making him look up from his microscope.

"Hey, I thought you were going home."

"It's to calm and quiet. I guess I miss the noise and rush around here." She smiled as she walked over and kissed him. "Have you found anything yet?"

"I found tons of stuff."

"Anything useful for the case?" She asked making him smile as he looked over the table that had fifteen things laid out. "Right."

"I heard Brennan's in the bone room working on the skull."

"The one that was crushed by the floor landing on top of it? The same floor that gave way and almost had her fall too?"

"She's fine Angie. You know how she is."

"I know but it doesn't mean I can't worry." She smiled as she leaned against him as he went back to work and the two spoke about what he found.

"I found the victim." Booth said as he walked into Brennan's office. "Danielle Stevens. 36 years old, she was a patient at the Edgewood Psychiatric Hospital. Sweets is on his way here and then we'll head over and check things out there." Brennan nodded as she got up from behind her desk to grab her bag before she dropped it and ran towards the bathroom. She ran passed Sweets as Booth sighed picking up her bag and waiting for her to come out.

"Is Dr. Brennan sick?" Sweets asked as he walked over to Booth.

"She's fine."

"She ran through the lab and into the bathroom. I've never seen her do that ever." He looked at Booth as he looked towards eh bathrooms. "Maybe she should go home and rest."

"Yeah." Booth said as Brennan walked out of the bathroom. "Stay here Sweets." He said before he walked towards Brennan and led her into her office where he shut the door.

"Booth we have to go." She protested as she saw him shut the door. "What?"

"Bones maybe you should stay here and relax."

"No, Booth. There's no reason that I have to be left behind to wait for you and Sweets to interrogate the people at the hospital."

"We aren't interrogating anyone yet. We're just going to talk to them, and you just ran through the lab to throw up."

"I'm fine. It was just my Hormones starting to act up."

"You don't look like you're fine." He said making her look away slightly angry and slightly thankful that he was pushing the issue. "Stay and relax for a bit, I'll let you know what we find out." He said as she walked off to the side with him following. He glanced at the window and saw Sweets watching as Brennan walked over to the couch. Booth slowly moved over and shut the blinds before walking over to Brennan.

"Why are you pushing the issue?" She asked looking up at him.

"Because you're not going to be able to go out to talk to these people feeling like this and besides Sweets will be with us and you know how he is." He said before he saw her sigh in defeat. "Lay down and rest for a little while."

"Fine, but only this once." She said making him nod before he dipped his head and captured her lips quickly. The two pulled away slowly to look into the others eyes. "You will get us caught if you do that here." She said softly making him smirk as he kissed her again.

"The blinds are closed, no one can see." He said making her shake her head.

"You should go before Sweets starts asking questions that we aren't ready to answer." She told him as he nodded before she leaned up and gave him a kiss. "Now go. We still need to talk tonight, don't forget."

"I wouldn't forget." He said before walking out to join Sweets.

"She's staying?" Sweets asked shocked as Booth walked over and started leading the way out.

"Yeah."

"What? How did you manage that?" Booth looked away slightly as they got to car. This was going to be a long trip.

"I told her she needed to stay. She was sick and shouldn't be wandering around with us." He said hopping the young psychologist would stop there.

"She have the flu or something?"

"I don't know, Sweets." Booth said frustrated and the man looked at him and nodded as they both fell silent for the remainder of the trip.

Booth did not get back to the Jeffersonian until eight that night. He walked in with Sweets still following him as the others in the lab headed home. Booth was becoming more and more frustrated with Sweets and all he did was talking about why Brennan would be sick and what she should do and if Booth knew anything that was going on. Booth sighed as they reached the door to her office. He stopped and turned to look at Sweets.

"What are you doing?" He asked Sweets who shrugged.

"I want to see if she's feeling any better." Booth shook his head as he opened the door knowing that if he tried to talk the young doctor into leaving he would know something was going on. They walked in to see Brennan lying on the couch sleeping.

"Should we wake her?" Sweets asked softly.

"I'll let her sleep a little bit more and then wake her. You head home." Booth said trying to make it sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Let me know if you need anything." Sweets said before leaving as Booth let out a sigh of relief before walking over to Brennan.

"Bones." He said before he reached out to wake gently her. "Bones, wake up." He said as she started to wake up. She looked up at him before she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"Little after eight. Come on, let's get something to eat and then get you home." She sat for a minute before she took off to the bathroom again leaving Booth to grab her bag and put all of her files into it before grabbing her jacket and walking out to meet her as she came out of the bathroom. "You okay?" he asked as she nodded.

"Did you get my-"

"I grabbed all of your files you had on your desk." He said making her look at him before smirking. "Come on. We'll stop and get some take out on the way home." She agreed as the two walked out of the lab shutting the lights off.

Booth sat with Brennan as his apartment eating their food at his kitchen table as Brennan tried to stifle a yawn. Booth smirked before he went into the bedroom and came out with a pair of pajama pant and an old sweatshirt.

"Thank you." She said softly feeling exhausted.

"Finish up and then get changed, you want the bed?" He asked. Since the first time they had only discussed becoming a couple, toying with the idea and intimate moments such as a simple kiss in her office but every time they seemed to try to share the same bed it only turned into an all-night event.

"No Booth. You're back gets thrown out when you sleep on the couch for a few hours, you can't sleep on the couch." She said waking up enough to argue.

"Bones, you're exhausted, and pregnant. you can't be sleeping on the couch." Booth said looking at her like, she was crazy, suggesting that he sleep in his bed while she was on the couch.

"Then why don't we share the bed?" She offered as he looked at her. Not sure if sharing the bed was the best idea, considering that every time they have in the last two months they wound up sharing their feelings intimately.

"Bones…" He trailed off.

"Booth." She said giving him a look he knew he wasn't going to argue against. He sighed in defeat as he shook his head with a smirk. "Booth we need to talk." She said before he looked at her quickly.

"Bones let's wait until we're not tried to talk about this stuff."

"We need to talk about it and with how we have been getting cases recently it does not appear we will have any time free to have enough sleep to be able to discuss what we need to." She said looking at him as he watched her knowing she was right.

"Okay, fine we'll talk a little bit and then sleep and talk more lately. How's that?" He watched her think about her options before nodding and looking at him. "You can start it off."

"What is between us? Where do we stand? With our relationship?" She asked trying to be clear with what she was asking. Booth looked at her and took a breath.

"We talked about trying us out before. Do you want to try?" He countered as she looked at him with those blue eyes he loved so much.

"I would be open to the option." She nodded. "We have basically started a romantic relationship anyway." She said making Booth's lips twitch slightly. "What about living conditions?"

"What would you like to do?" He turned the question around as she looked back at him as she took a deep breath letting it out slowly. "Why don't we leave that one for another time?" He offered, as she nodded, neither really knowing what they wanted to do in that case.

"Do you want to tell everyone about us? About the child?"

"Well we can't tell about one without telling about the other." Brennan nodded agreeing that they would have to confess all if they were to tell their friends. "We should at least wait until after things have calmed down around the lab with this case and Angela and Hodgins' kid." She gave another nod.

"What about the FBI? I know they have rules about relationships between agents or agents with consultants." She asked worried that things could get hard.

"Don't worry about the FBI. I'm sure we'll figure something out." He stood up and walked over to the seat she was sitting in. She spun in her seat to face him before he leaned in closer. "Let's get some sleep. We have that case to solve." He said softly before he leaned down to kiss her sweetly. "We have to talk with the family tomorrow anyway." He said softly as she nodded.

"I know." She sighed as he took a step back so she could go change in the bathroom while he changed in his room and the two crawled into bed laying on their backs looking at the ceiling. "Booth?" She asked as they lay side by side, neither wanting to touch afraid that it would send them off into another one of their romantic nights together.

"Hm?" He turned his head to look at her as she rolled onto her side to look at him.

"Do you believe that parental abilities are learned or just known?" She asked as he looked at her slightly confused before he reached out pulling her closer, seeing the worry in her eyes.

"Bones…." He whispered. "You're going to be a great mother." He said softly as she cuddled up to his side, laying her head on his chest with an arm across his abdomen holding him tight.

"How can you be sure? I have very little interaction with children and I am not capable of communicating on their level as I am often found to only confuse them." She protested.

"It's just something I know. Some of it is learning as you go, but when you see the little baby growing up in your arms you instantly can understand what to do." He explained to her as she nodded slowly. "Besides you were good with that baby, Andy, on one of our cases a few years ago. And you're great with Parker." He said kissing the top of her head. "Don't worry about any of that. Just get some sleep." He whispered as he ran a hand soothingly over her arm.

The next morning Booth woke up to the rays of sun shining into the room. He took a deep breath smelling the sweet scent of Brennan's shampoo as she still lay sleeping with her head on his chest. Booth glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand and sighed. It was almost time for them to wake up and get to work. Taking another deep breath he decided to untangle himself from Brennan's arms before he got his shower and started the coffee before he went to wake Brennan who was still sleeping soundly, cuddled against his pillow. He walked over and reached out to wake her.

"Bones." He leaned in closer. "Bones, you have to get up." He saw her eyes flutter open to look at him before shutting as she took a deep breath. "Come on, we get this case solved and you can sleep all you want." He smirked making her look up at him and roll onto her back.

"You're right." She said before she climbed from the bed to get her clean clothes from her bag she kept at the lab in case she stayed to work over night. Booth went back to the kitchen and waited for her to come out.

"We'll get this case solved and then we can relax a bit." He said. "How you feeling?" he asked.

"Fine. I am hoping I do not have to be sick today." She said looking at him hopeful before they got their things and left dropping her at the lab before he drove to his office.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It had been two days since Brennan and Booth had their argument. She was beyond mad still and everyone knew it. She walked into her office angrily as she threw her file onto her desk and sighed as the memories of their argument filtered through her mind.

"No booth, you can't make me do anything." She yelled.

"You're not going. I have paper work to fill out with Hacker; you can't wait until I'm done?"

"Booth, I need to see if there were any bones left behind. I am still missing several to fully construct the skeleton. It will only take me a few minutes to look around and-"

"No. What if the floor gives way and you fall again, or the building collapse and you are killed? And did you see the neighborhood it was in?"

"Booth!" She said both voices raising enough to make the lab look over at her office.

"No!"

"You can't tell me what I can and cannot do!" She yelled to him as he walked out the door leaving her seething over him thinking he could boss her around. She was an adult and knew how to take care of herself.

Brennan took a deep breath to relax herself. She could not understand why she was so angry over something as stupid as him telling her to wait but as she thought about the instance she felt her anger rise. After her fight with Booth, she had taken a trip to visit Zack, the only person who was completely rational, the only one who was able to help her work some things out.

(Flashback)

Brennan sat in the chair waiting for Zack to be brought in. She sighed as everything ran through her mind. Everything that she had been through, everything that had happened to her and her team at the lab in the last few years, everything that had gone on between herself and Booth that they had tried so hard to hold back for so many years. She stood up as he walked in and the two hugged tightly.

"Dr. Brennan, it's been a while since the last time you came to see me. Did something happen?"

"You remember me telling you about Broadsky? The sniper who was killing people he saw as criminals?" He nodded as they sat across from each other. "Well he set his gear up and called a phone he had left for Booth. Booth was trying to trace where the call was coming from so he handed the phone to Vincent Nigel-Murray and Broadsky fired. He shot the one who answered thinking it would be Booth."

"Was Vincent alright?"

"No, Booth tried to save him but… there was no possible way that it could have been done. The bullet nearly completely severed his aorta."

"But everyone else was alright?"

"Yes. Very shaken up but fine, Hodgins and Angela had their baby also. I imagine they have not had a chance to come visit."

"No they have not. Was the child healthy? Hodgins told me that the child could have been blind."

"Yes. The baby was perfect. They named him Michael Staccato Vincent Hodgins. Angela and Hodgins want to bring him in to see you but they want to wait until he gets a little older."

"That would be the logical idea. Bringing a child into a place like this would pose a possible threat to the child's health."

"Yes." He smiled looking at Zack. "I am sorry it took so long to get back to visit you Zack. There has been a lot going on in the last two and a half months."

"I understand Dr. Brennan. A death of an intern as intelligent at Vincent must have been hard. But I am sure Agent Booth did all he could to prevent the death."

"Yes, Booth tried his best." She said with a nod.

"How are the others?"

"Well, Cam is still like she always was, but we are all working together much better. Angela just came back not long ago from maternity leave. She actually is supposed to still be out but she says she can't stay away from the Jeffersonian so she has a little crib set in her office for Michael while she works. Hodgins is exactly the same as he always has been, still happy to be climbing around dumpsters and sewage." She said as Zack scrunched his face slightly.

"I never was able to understand how he could become so ecstatic over anything such as he has." Brennan nodded in agreement. "What about Agent Booth?" Brennan froze for a moment and took a deep breath as tears came to her eyes. "Dr. Brennan, did something happen to Agent Booth?"

"No, Zack. Booth is fine. He is just…." She trailed off trying to think as she forced the tears back a bit.

"He has caused another argument between himself and you." He said and saw her nod. "Would you like to discuss it? Perhaps I could be of assistance in finding a solution." Brennan nodded and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

"After Vincent was killed he wanted me to stay at his apartment that night. He was worried and wanted to know I was safe, he was so determined so I did not argue but I think I subconsciously wanted to stay with him. I did feel pain when Vincent was killed and he kept repeating that he wanted to stay while he looked at me."

"It is understandable."

"Early that morning I couldn't take it and I went to talk to Booth. He explained to me that he was asking the universe to let him stay not me and he comforted me. After a while, I was able to gain control of my pain but it was replaced with something I still am not familiar with. It is a feeling that I cannot even describe to try to find the name for it."

"What happened when you felt this feeling?"

"Booth and I were lying in his bed and he was holding me. And although I was well aware of my surroundings, the rest of the night becomes a blur of what I can only deduce as chemicals released causing my brain to become on such a level as average people."

"Did you and Agent Booth have sexual intercourse?" He asked making Brennan nod. "So then you are together. As a couple?"

"Yes, but I cannot discern if it is only for reasons of the release of chemicals, or if our attraction has turned into more, or perhaps it is because of my pregnancy."

"Pregnancy?" Zack asked confused for a moment. "You are pregnant with Agent Booth's child?"

"Yes. I am nine weeks to be exact."

"Have your feelings towards Agent Booth changed since finding out about the pregnancy?" She sat and thought for a moment.

"No, if anything they have intensified my attraction to him. Yet I do become overly frustrated and I am not pleased with his behavior recently. He is always trying to tell me what to do and if I am aloud to go or do something. It is as if he thinks I cannot protect myself."

"Perhaps it is his need to protect you that has intensified since the news of the pregnancy. He has always been protective of you with others, perhaps the news has caused him to worry over things that normally he would not have."

"Perhaps. However, what is it that I feel that makes me give in to him? I have never done that before but since our first night together I have been feeling as if I forget everything and I just give in to his objections."

"Perhaps it is your chemical response to his basic alpha male need to protect his mate." Brennan sat thinking for a minute as she considered his words.

"Yes, that is a possibility. What of the feeling I have. Is it possible that, the first night it was chemicals being released as my reaction to seeing Vincent killed?"

"Perhaps but you have been attracted to him for many years now. Isn't it more likely that seeing him killed forced you to realize how short life can be and you subconsciously wanted to make sure there were no regrets when your end came?"

"That is a possibility."

"Then you're feelings are intensified attraction towards him."

"No, it is much different than simple attraction. I have felt attracted to other men before but this attraction is nothing like that."

"Could it possibly be the love the others are always talking about?" The two sat thinking for a moment before Brennan sighed.

"I suppose, but I would need to gather more data to support the findings." Brennan said with a small smile before she frowned at her watch. "I have to get back to the lab. I'll be back in a couple weeks to tell you my findings."

"I look forward to understanding the feeling of love as the others explain it." The two stood up and hugged tightly before Brennan left.

(End flash back)

Suddenly her phone rang making her jump from her thoughts to answer it.

"Brennan."

"Bones, there was another body found at the hospital. I'm on my way to pick you up now." Booth said. His voice sounded a bit strained as she just said okay and hung up before she sat to wait for him. It was not long until Booth walked into her office and saw her sitting upset at her desk. He quickly shut the door and turned back to her fiery confused look.

"What are you doing? We have a body to look at." Brennan said as Booth looked down at her.

"We need to talk." He said leaving no room for negotiation. "Bones, I didn't want you to go until I finished my stuff with Hacker because I wanted to make sure someone was with you and that you were safe. Not because I wanted to tell you what you could and couldn't do." He said making her look up still slightly angry but the anger started to fade the more she searched his brown eyes.

"It's fine Booth. Let's just go." She said and went to walk around him.

"Bones." He said sternly before she looked up at him with a deep breath.

"It's fine." She said as he huffed quietly before he took her bag for her and the two were off to the crime scene.

Booth pulled up at the mental hospital and the two walked in meeting a tall, well-dressed man. Booth introduced him to Brennan as Timothy Jefferies, the hospital administrator. He walked them through the hospital explaining that a patient had been digging to pretend to make a garden and found the remains. She had a small episode and Timothy called Booth to tell him what had been found. Brennan walked over and knelt beside the remains as Booth stood behind her and Timothy was not far behind him listening to what Brennan spouted off.

"Temporal Ridge, Superciliary arches, and the Pelvic outlet suggest male. From the lack of fusion to the long bones, it seems the victim is young. No more than five or six. There seems to be damage to the frontal, Superior orbital, zygomatic, sphenoid and the temporal bones. It seems they are the only injuries. I'll have to take a look back at the lab to be sure." She said standing up as Booth called to a coupled of the technicians to collect what was needed and to send it over to the Jeffersonian. He walked back to the car with Brennan quietly knowing she was still mad. As she reached for the handle to the door he reached out and stopped her making her look at him confused.

"Talk to me. I need you to tell me what's bothering you." He said looking at her waiting for a response. He moved closer putting his hands on either side of her head as she leaned her back against the door and saw him lean in. "Bones come on. you just spouted off a bunch of science talk back there." He said as she looked up into his eyes before deciding to let him know what she was feeling.

"You act like you can tell me what to do and treat me like I'm a child. I am an adult; I can do what I want when I want I do not need your permission to do anything. I can take care of myself and I do not need you to hover around as my protector all the time." She said angrily. He looked down at her knowing she did not understand that he really was just worried about her and was not trying to tell her what to do.

"Listen, I didn't mean it like that. I know I can't tell you what to do, I've worked with you for seven years, believe me I know you do what you want no matter what I think. And I defiantly know you can take care of yourself."

"Then why were you telling me I was not going back to the crime scene?" She asked crossing her arms.

"Because I don't want you to be hurt. I want to be there in case something happens. I just want you to be safe." He said and saw the understanding slipping into her eyes as she looked up at him. Slowly he leaned down and kissed her softly pulling back to look into her bright blue eyes. "How about I take you back to the lab and you can go back to playing with your bones." He said making her sigh and nod. The two climbed into the car and took off back to the lab to start their work with a second victim.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Booth and Brennan walked back to his office quietly. They had just spoken with the parents of the second victim. A four-year-old boy named Collin Jennings, who had been a patent at the hospital for the last year with Ganser syndrome. Brennan sat in a chair to the side as Booth put a file away and grabbed a new one before sitting behind his desk. He looked at Brennan as she took a deep breath and sat silently in her seat.

"You okay, Bones?" He asked breaking the silence.

"Yes. Just…. Such a young child…." She trailed off and looked at him sadly.

"I know. We'll get the guy who did this though." He reassured her. "Come on let's get you home." He stood up ready to leave with her following.

"I need to do a little more work at the lab before I go home." She said as he looked at her knowing she had set her mind. He drove her to the lab and as he went to park, she stopped him telling her to drop her at the front.

"Booth, you get some sleep, I'll go home in a little bit." She said

"You need to get sleep. You haven't been able to sleep well the last few nights with this case. You can't run around like you did before."

"I know my limitations. I know when I need to sleep and when I am fine to continue my work. I do not need everyone walking around behind me telling me when to sleep, when to eat, when to stop, come or go."

"You can't just go without sleeping or eating for days on end because you want to solve a case or have to identify remains of something or another. You have to think of that child you have inside of you. It comes before anything else."

"You think I don't know how to take care of myself or the child growing inside of me?" She asked angrily. "I can take care of myself and this child I'm not stupid, and I am such a horrible person to put my work or the murder victims of a case in front of the well-being and health of the child in my womb. I know how to take care of it and myself. So just go back to what you do and leave me to take care of myself and the child." She said, her voice getting louder and louder as she went on. She looked away with tears in her eyes as she got out of the car angrily leaving him upset as she slammed the door. He knew for the second time that week he had made her angry with him, sighing he started on his way to his apartment knowing he was not going to be able to fix this tonight.

Booth woke up the next morning, getting ready for the day he decided to call Brennan to see if she had calmed down and gone home the night before. He pushed the speed dial and heard it go straight to voice mail. Sighing he finished getting ready before going to his office to try calling her again. After the third time of trying to reach her, he called Cam.

"Dr. Saroyan."

"Cam, is Bones there?"

"I believe she locked herself in the bone room looking at the new remains. From what she said, the cause of death was not the fractured skull. She said that was done by the patent that had been digging. Do you need her for something?"

"It's fine; just tell her to call me when she's done making the dead talk." He said making Cam smile.

"Will do." The two hung up leaving Booth to lean back in his chair with a sigh. Brennan was mad at him, frustrated with the case, and her emotions were being thrown all over the place. He knew she was not used to feeling the way she had been and knew she had to be a little scared. She was going to lock herself in the bone room until she found cause of death and was able to help solve this case. Booth grabbed the file on the two victims and began his own work hoping Brennan would be able to find what she was looking for quickly so they can get this case out of the way and get everything worked out.

Booth sighed looking at the time. It was nearly midnight and he was not even halfway through his paperwork. He sat back knowing he needed to finish his paper work and get sleep but every time he began the paperwork his mind drifted to Brennan and their argument earlier. He knew he had made a huge mistake. He knew he should not have made it sound like he thought she was incapable of taking care of herself and the child that was growing in her womb, the child that connected them, the child they created. When he thought about going home to sleep his mind drifted to the thought of Brennan not being beside him. In the last two months, he had become used to falling asleep with her in his arms and waking up with her cuddled up against him. After their argument earlier that day, he prayed that she would forgive him, but he knew the likelihood of her forgiving him for basically telling her she was unfit to be a mother was slim. He stood grabbing his jacket and heading home to his quiet and empty apartment to get what little sleep he could.

Booth woke up the next morning after tossing and turning the entire night, only sleeping for a total of three hours. He sighed as he started getting ready for the day, hoping Brennan had finally gone home for sleep or at least taken a nap at the lab during the night. He knew how she was when working on a case while emotional, and knew she was going to work until she got the answers she was looking for. He tried to call her and again the call when right to voicemail. He decided to stop at the lab and see how the squints were all doing with the case. He walked in to see Hodgins walking from his room.

"Booth." Hodgins said as he walked over to him. "I found particulates of Stachybotrys Chartarum on the first victim's clothing and I was also able to find traces of sodium hypochlorite in the carpeting of the floor that soaked up the fluids of the decomposed tissue."

"And that all means…?" He urged.

"She was soaked in bleach when she died and around the time of death she was somewhere that had black mold. I checked with the CDC for black mold breakouts in the DC area and guess what I found." Hodgins paused as they walked into his room and he punched in on his computer before turning and looking at Booth as a picture showed up on the screen. "There was an outbreak of black mold in the basement of the same hospital the two victims were patients in two months ago."

"Good work Hodgins." Booth said as he turned to leave as he ran into Cam.

"You here to see Brennan?" She asked curious as he gave a nod. "She's in the bone room still, she's still engrossed with the bones, hasn't talked to anyone or even acknowledged anyone was in the room with her."

"She does that all the time."

"I guess. But she hasn't gone home yet." Booth looked at her and sighed.

"Don't worry about her. You know how Bones gets during cases when she can't find something fast." He said reassuring Cam who nodded. "Just keep an eye on her." Cam nodded as Booth left to check his files dig up what he could find on the hospital.

Booth was about to head home from work the day after he spoke with Cam and Hodgins, he was exhausted he hadn't been able to talk to Brennan as she isolated herself into the bone room and refused to talk to anyone, and he was working long days. His phone rang making him sit back in his chair as he answered.

"Booth."

"Booth, you need to come to the lab." Cam said. "Brennan is still staring at the remains. She still hasn't gone home. It's been three days."

"I'll head over now. You and the others head home and get some rest." He told her before they hung up and he made his way over finding everyone but a few guards, Angela, Hodgins and Brennan left in the lab. He stood at the doorway looking at Brennan as she leaned over the tiny set of remains.

"Bren, you've been staring at the remains for the last three days. You haven't taken a brake, you barely eat. Sweetie you have to stop." Angela said as Hodgins walked over to the room to stand beside Booth.

"Angie." Hodgins said making Angela look at him and saw Booth. She sighed and walked over to the two men.

"Get her to rest, Booth." Angela said worried.

"Don't worry Ange." Booth said with a small smile as she left with Hodgins and Booth walked into the room as Brennan glanced up at him. He stopped across the table and looked at her work. "Cam called me. Said you haven't left in three days."

"I have work to do. I need to find the cause of death." She said as she laid a rib down to pick up another and stare at it.

"You've been over every bone a million times already. If you haven't found it-"

"I have to find it. If we can find the cause of death, it could help lead to the murderer." She cut him off as she ducked her head a little lower. Booth looked at her a minute before he walked around to stand beside her. Reaching out he gently turned her head to make her look at him.

"Bones." He said softly as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Bones, put the bone down." He said and he watched her look back at the rib before placing it on the table gently and pulling her gloves off slightly angry. She turned back to him as he was about to speak again only to have her put her hands on her hips and take a step away from him.

"I don't need a babysitter, and I don't need to have everyone coming in here to interrupt my work to tell me what I should do." She said as tears gathered in her eyes. "I… I can take care of myself." She insisted. Booth stepped forward pulling her against him. To his surprise, she did not fight it. She wrapped her arms around him and let her tears fall silently as he held her tight in his arms

"It's okay." He said as he held her. She sniffled and pulled back a bit as she wiped her face.

"I don't need everyone coming in to check on me." She said calmer now.

"I know you don't."

"Then why are you here?" He reached out pushing some hair back behind her ear.

"I'm here because I wanted to see you. We've both been busy with the case and haven't been able to talk at all." He saw her look at him as if trying to figure out if he was lying before she sighed and looked at the remains lying out on the table.

"Then why did you come after Cam called you?" She asked as she looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"I was planning on coming to see you anyway. Cam just called me because she was worried about you."

"What did you come to talk about?" She asked wondering what he had to say after they had their fight three days ago.

"Our fight. I didn't mean what I said. I didn't mean it the way I said it." He said making her look at him.

"Then what did you mean because it sounded clear to me."

"You are used to working a lot, you should slow down. That's all. Just slow down and don't work these crazy hours. None of these three day runs." She looked at him for a minute before he took a step forward pulling her to him again. "I'm sorry Bones." He kissed the top of her head as her arms wrapped around him tightly.

"I will try to be more careful with my work hours." She said softly as he looked down at her.

"Have you eaten yet?" He asked and saw her shake her head. "Let's get something to eat and then we'll go home and get some sleep." He sighed inwardly as she nodded in agreement and they walked from the bone room to gather her things from her office before they stopped for food and drove to his apartment.

The next morning Booth and Brennan walked into the lab an hour late. As Brennan dropped her things off in her office, he received a thank you from Cam and hug from Angela.

"How did you do it?" Hodgins asked as Booth shrugged.

"You just have to know how to talk to her." He said as Brennan came out of her office.

"Okay." Brennan said as everyone was gathering around. "Mr. Bray I want you to go over the bones and see if there are any indentations, nicks, chips, anything that shouldn't be there." Brennan told her intern before looking up at Booth. "Let's go." He turned to follow her with his hand resting on her back. Their friends stood staring at how Brennan had gone from obsessed and snappy back to her relaxed calm state overnight.

"He is good." Angela said watching the two walk out.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Agent Booth." Timothy said as he met with Brennan and Booth. "What can I do for you?"

"We were wondering if anyone goes to the basement where the black mold had been." Booth asked as the man looked at him confused. "We found traces of Black mold on one of the victims and according to the CDC you had a break out in the basement a few months ago."

"Well the maintenance man mostly and very rarely a nurse if they need to get linens. But, that's only happened a few times here and there. We do not allow our patents to wander outside of the designated areas."

"Could we take a look at the area the mold was located at?" Brennan asked.

"Yes, yes of course. I'll take you there." He said and started leading the way to the basement. "You don't think that one of them were killed down here do you?" He asked looking at Booth and Brennan who shrugged.

"It's a possibility." Brennan told him as her phone rang. "Brennan… okay, thank you." She said as she hung up to look at Booth. "Hodgins found the same particulates and traces on the second victim." She said as Booth nodded.

"We're going to have to talk to the maintenance guy."

"Yes of course. Here the mold was this entire back area." He said pointing in front of him as Brennan started walking farther into the room.

"Booth. It smells like cleaning materials." She said as she looked around the room. "Are the cleaning supplies kept in here?"

"No. They are on the other side of the basement by the elevator." The manager said as he watched Brennan walk around.

"Why don't you go find that maintenance guy for us?" Booth suggested before Timothy nodded and went off to find the man while Booth walked over to Brennan. "What do you think?" He asked making her look up at him.

"This could be our crime scene. If the chemicals were not stored here yet the smell of Bleach is obviously strong, it is very possible that both victims were killed here."

"I'll call in a team." He said as he dialed Haker to call in the forensics team while Brennan continued to wander. "Let's head up and see what we can get from this guy." He said as they started back up the stairs to find Timothy walking back towards them. Booth and Brennan stopped in front of him, as he looked at them worried.

"I am afraid Jeff is not in today. It seems he called out once again."

"How long has he been out for?" Booth asked curious as the manager took a breath.

"Since the first body was found. He left early claiming that he had an appointment and he's been calling out since."

"Do you have an address for him? We'll just take a trip over and talk to him for a bit." Booth suggested as Timothy nodded.

"Yes, I will get everything for you." He turned and left to go to his office to get what Booth and Brennan would need. Booth saw Brennan looking around as she began to wander making him follow as she walked through the hall to the little courtyard where the second body had been found.

"Bones, you can't just go wandering through this place." He said stopping behind her as she stopped in her tracks. "Bones, what is it?" He asked as he walked closer and she pointed.

"Booth that shed in the corner… there are stairs in the basement that line up to it. Collin could have easily been pulled up the stairs and buried quickly without anyone knowing anything." She looked at him as he looked at the shed then the area that was still taped off right next to the shed. He looked back at her and nodded "The stairs and the inside of the shed should be checked for blood and anything that could prove that he was…" She trailed off and looked up at him with emotion flowing into her eyes.

"Yeah, we'll make sure to check. Come on let's get what we need from the manager and set the team up." He said softly turning them around to walk back towards Timothy's office just in time to see him walk back over.

"Here is everything we have in his file."

"Thanks." Booth said taking the file. "We're going to have a team come in and take a look around in the basement just to rule a few things out."

"Yes, of course." Booth and Brennan walked out to meet the forensic team and another two agents.

"Agent Miller, Agent Ledger." Booth greeted as they walked over to them. "In the basement the far side is where the mold was and where there's a strong smell of bleach. There's also a little stair way up from the basement into a courtyard that we found the second victim buried in. make sure to check everywhere possible for any traces of blood." Booth said and watched the two nod before Agent Miller, the taller of the two with black hair and light brown eyes walked off to direct the lab techs while Ledger looked at Booth as Brennan watched the techs begin their work. She turned to Booth as if wanting to go back to supervise making Ledger worry as rumor of Dr. Temperance Brennan reached all the agents in the FBI. Several knew what she was capable of and several flat out refused to work with her, to the point of threatening to quit if they were made to work with her.

"Booth..." She said making him look at her before she turned to look around again and Booth glanced at Ledger who was looking slightly worried.

"Bones, they will look at everything and get everything you need. You don't need to be here bossing them around and making their lives a living hell. That's what we have Miller and Ledger here for." Booth said

"I would not make their lives a living hell. Booth someone with real training needs to be here to make sure they do not miss anything and that they do not mess anything up. If they miss something that could lead to the murder or anything-"

"Bones." He said making her looked at him ready to argue farther, but the look he was giving her made her stop and take a breath.

"It is happening again. Isn't it?" She asked making him nod and smirk before she took a deep breath. "I am sorry." She said softly before walking away and towards the car leaving Booth with the confused agent.

"Did she just….. Apologize? Is she okay? I mean what's going on? I head she tore agents apart not that she would listen to you and apologize." Booth smirked as he looked over at Brennan who was standing beside the car with her arms crossed and her head down.

"What's it matter, you got off easy." Booth said with a smirk. "Just give me a call if you find anything."

"As long as you keep her calm and not trying to kill us or the techs I think I can manage that." Ledger smirked with his smiling brown eyes and neatly brushed blond hair. Booth gave a small smirk before walking over to Brennan and they climbed into the car and were off to see what they can find out from the maintenance man.

Booth and Brennan sat in her office going over paperwork while they waited for his phone to ring. They had gone to see the maintenance man, Jeff but there was no answer when they knocked on the door and the car was not in the driveway forcing Booth to place a bolo out on the man before they went back to the lab to look over what they had already, which wasn't much. Booth leaned back on the couch as Brennan continued to flip through the pages that had been sprawled on the table in front of them. He watched her scan the words written all over the pages. After a while, she also sat back and looked at him with a sigh.

"Booth, there's nothing that points to anyone. We do not have anything. All we know is that the first victim's head was struck with an object like a square and we still have no cause of death for the second. We have nothing."

"We'll get something Bones. We just got the team working and processing the basement and that shed. They found blood so that's something. We know where at least one of them was killed. It's just a matter of time before evidence starts pointing to someone." He reassured her. "Let's go home and get some sleep." He offered and saw her shake her head. "Bones, you promised…." He trailed off as she leaned forward and started working again.

"I…. Booth, I cannot go rest. Not right now." He leaned forward and pulled the papers from her hands making her look at him with tears in her eyes.

"Bones… what's going on? You've barely slept last night and you were up for three nights before that. You have to get sleep." She looked at him wanting to tell him everything that was swimming around in her head, but did not want to worry him when it was not necessary. "Come on, talk to me. Tell me what is going on." his tone suggested he was trying to beg slightly, hoping she would explain it to him.

"Booth…" She said trailing off as she tore her eyes from his and stood up to walk over to her desk. He followed her and stopped making her turn to face him.

"Don't shut me out. Come on, we're partners, we're more than partners we're boyfriend and girlfriend. Don't shut yourself up behind those walls again." He said making her search his worried eyes. They stood looking at each other for a while before she pulled her eyes away again and took a deep breath. "Just tell me what's going on."

"Booth…" She started softly before looking up at him. "You know I'm not very good with allowing myself to show emotions and I am certainly not good at telling others what is wrong. You are correct though. I should tell you when there is something in my mind. We are in a relationship and I should be honest with you not try to hide everything." She paused and looked up at him and he nodded waiting for her to continue. "I…. I have not been able to sleep recently. This case has my mind going back to the child. Every time I try to sleep I just keep seeing that little boy trying to work passed his illness, wanting to be a normal boy, trying to play and laugh….." She trailed off as the tears began to over flow and Booth pulled her to him and held her tight.

"Alright. It's going to be okay." He hushed her as he pulled her close. She took a deep breath calming her emotions and pulling herself together as she pulled back to look at him.

"I can't go to sleep, I can't imagine what his family is feeling knowing that their four year old child was killed by some mad man at a hospital that is supposed to be making him feel better." She saw Booth give a small nod. "My chest hurts when I think about the pain and what it would be like if something happened to our child….. "She trailed off in tears again. "I… I cannot seem to gain full control over my emotions as of late." Booth took a breath and pulled her into another hug. He did not want to even have the thought of something happening to Parker or the child they were having together. He knew her hormones had been even higher the last few days and knew that things would only get worse before they leveled out for the remainder of the pregnancy.

"Don't think about something happening. We won't let it. You know that. So just forget about anything possibly happening to our baby and just focus on helping me catch the guy who took away someone else's kid. We get a hold of him and maybe I'll even let you take a swing or two." He smiled as she gave a small sound something close to a chuckle before he felt her arms tighten around him. He slid one hand from her upper back to rest on her lower back while his other arm wrapped around her back with his hand cradling her head to his chest.

"Every time I start working on the case about him or I try to sleep I just… I can't, Booth….."

"I know. It is gonna be okay, I promise. Why don't you take a little bit and just focus on something other than this case. Leave the remains to Wendell and just work on something else or even take a few days off."

"Booth I can't do that. Not in the middle of a case." She protested pushing back to look up at him.

"At least until we find that maintenance guy. Just relax, and let Wendell look at the remains, and just forget all about murder and victims for a while." she looked at him thinking and analyzing the pros and cons of what he was suggesting. Slowly she gave a small sigh.

"I do not think I will be able to sleep still, but you need to get your rest." She said making him smirk before he let go of her.

"Alright, let's pack it all up and call it a night." She nodded before she started to help him collect the papers that had ben strung across the table. By the time they were finished collecting everything they needed to and were able to make it to his apartment it was nearly ten p.m. Brennan tried to take the files from her bag to start working again only to have Booth stop her hands. She had thought he went to get ready for bed leaving her a little bit of time to look over a few more papers. As she tried to pull the files from her bag, he had come up behind her and grabbed onto her wrists from behind.

"Booth." She complained.

"No work. Come on, it's late and we need to get some rest. You're starting to look like a zombie, Bones." He said with a small smile as he leaned down kissing her cheek as she gave up on the files. He let go and turned back towards the bedroom before Brennan grabbed his hand and turned him back to her.

"Booth, you can't just stop me from work and tell me to go to bed. You know I cannot just stop and forget about everything. I need to figure this out." She complained softly making him walk closer to her.

"I know Bones; no one can forget any of the stuff in these cases. You have to just be able to put them aside when you come home."

"I can't do that when I don't know what the mystery is. I have to keep my mind occupied or else I will not be able to continue to fit the pieces together." She looked at him slightly concerned at the look that had jumped into his eyes as he watched her stand explaining. Slowly he moved closer to her and he smirked down at her.

"So you need to be preoccupied to be able to relax?" He asked as saw her study him before shrugging.

"That is one option." He smirked before he leaned down giving her a kiss. Soon the gentle kiss turned into a heated passion and they were on their way to his bed for another night of romantic bliss that Brennan had no way to describe what was going on with her or her emotions.

That night Brennan lay with her head on his chest and an arm across his bare stomach as he had his arm wrapped around her naked form as they slept comfortably after several hours of wearing the other out. Booth was jerked awake by a scream as Brennan rolled off his chest making him sit up quickly and look around wondering what was going on. He looked at the tortuous face Brennan was making as she curled in a ball with her arms wrapped around her middle. Booth reached out and started to wake her as she gave another small cry. Finally, her eyes snapped open and she jumped into his arms as tears involuntarily came to her eyes and slipped through her tightly shut eyes.

"It's okay. I've got you. It's okay now, it was just a dream." He whispered as he held her close comforting her as she began to gain control back over her breathing and relaxed into his embrace. He slowly laid them both back against the soft mattress as she sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry I woke you." She said softly not wanting to let go just yet but still feeling awkward. Even after being in a relationship with Booth for the last three months she still felt off, and awkward when she shared her feelings or when she was completely vulnerable and he saw her, but slowly she was beginning to get used to him always being there to help her and hold her.

"Don't worry about waking me. You okay now?" He asked as she rolled slightly off him to look up at his face.

"Yes. I'm fine now. You should go back to sleep."

"We. We should go back to sleep." He said looking at her as she averted her eyes. "Bones."

"I can't Booth. It…. That dream…."

"You want to talk about it?" He saw her shake her head. "It might help you get back to sleep." He said and watched her weigh the options before she pulled herself close to him and tighten her grip making Booth tighten his arms around her.

"I… I've had this dream several times before. It's… you weren't home and it was late at night and I seemed to be almost due. A man broke down the door and came after me… he…. He tried to hurt the baby… Booth I….." She trailed off as tears came to her eyes and he held her a little tighter.

"No one's going to hurt you, or the baby. I promise I won't let anything happen to either of you." He said sternly as he kissed the top of her head.

"Booth, you weren't home, I think because you were working on a case and I couldn't go since I was so far along." She said softly.

"No one is going to get to you. No one is going to get to the baby either, no matter where I am. Nothing will hurt either of you." He said softly and he felt her relax a bit more in his arms. "I'm right here now, and you're both safe." He said as she relaxed and melted back into his arms as she let out a soft breath that danced across his bare chest.

"Promise you won't leave me." She whispered.

"I swear on our baby's life that I will never leave you, I love you, Temperance." He said making her shift to look up with a small smile as her eyes glistened from the unshed tears. He smirked as he looked at her. "I know, I know. Love is just a release of chemicals, but there's no science to explain how I feel about you."

"I accept that logic, and I seem to have feelings that I am unable to describe. The only thing I can think of is that I love you too, Seeley." She said making him smile before he rolled them and leaned over her with a grin before he kissed her and lulled her back to sleep until the next morning when Booth's phone rang waking them from a very comfortable, deep sleep. Booth groaned as he rolled and climbed from the bed to answer the phone making Brennan sigh.

"Booth." He answered as he dug his phone from the pocket of his discarded pants that had been left by the doorway to the bedroom the night before. "Yeah… Thanks, I'll be right in." He said before hanging up the phone. He grabbed a pair of boxers from his drawer before he walked over to the bed where Brennan had curled back up with the blankets and was drifting back off to sleep.

"Booth, come back to bed." She groaned missing the heat he had given off.

"That was Ledger. They found the maintenance guy and they're bringing him in now." He saw her crack her eyes to look at the time on the alarm clock beside the bed.

"At six in the morning?" She complained.

"I thought you liked early mornings." He smirked as she groaned.

"I did but the baby doesn't seem to enjoy them as much and has a habit of causing me to sleep through until late morning." She heard him chuckle making her look at him as he laid on her belly looking at her. "What are you laughing at?"

"You just blamed the fetus in your womb for you sleeping late." He smiled as she sighed closing her eyes again. "Come on. Let's get this done and over with." He said before he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek before climbing away to get changed for the day while she fought her body and followed suit.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Booth and Brennan walked into his office talking about the interview they had with the very tall man with buzzed brown hair and dark brown, almost black eyes. They had pushed the man as far as they could but did not gain much information from the man. The only thing they heard was ask the patients. That was all the man could say and they had to let him loose. Booth sat behind his desk with a heavy sigh as Brennan sat on one of the chairs facing his desk.

"I don't think he's our guy." Booth mused.

"There's no evidence pointing that he isn't. He is the one to work with the cleaning chemicals, he has full rein of the entire facility and he cannot supply an alibi for the time of the murders. He seems like the most logical choice." She said.

"But unless there was deep evidence pointing to him we can't get him. So until we have something to compare DNA to or to literally tie someone to the murders we're still stuck at square one." He said softly as Sweets walked in.

"There has to be something that can point to the murderer. Danielle and Collin deserve to have justice done. This murderer needs to be caught and punished for what he did to that woman and little boy. The families are torn apart, their children were killed and no one knows anything. Something needs to be done for the woman and that innocent little boy." She said before standing and storming from the room leaving Booth sigh wanting to go after her but knew she needed to just vent as Sweets looked at him completely shocked by Brennan's reaction.

"What was that about?" He asked as Booth sat up in his chair with a shrug.

"It's a hard case. One of the youngest victims she's worked on that's all." He said hoping Sweets would forget about it all, but he saw the look on the young man's face and knew that would not be happening any time soon. "What did you want?" He asked hoping to change the subject.

"Well it seems Dr. Brennan's personality has caused several at the lab to become concerned. From what I just witnessed, it seems there is cause for some concern. What happened to make her so involved with this case? She's worked on children remains before, what has caused this sudden change?"

"She's fine Sweets. Leave her alone, it's just a hard case for her." Booth said wanting to try to keep the therapist away from his partner so, she could do her work, and away from his girlfriend so she wouldn't have to be tormented by whatever his shrink brain thought up. Booth sighed as Sweets walked closer to the front of the desk.

"Agent Booth. You are partners and very close partners at that. Shouldn't you know what is going on? This is very out of character for her." Booth stood up and walked over to meet the man who was always trying to mess with his and Brennan's minds.

"Sweets. I'm telling you she's fine and just drop it."

"You know something. You need to tell me."

"Why so you can go screw with her head or cause problems that aren't there? I don't think so. If there were anything wrong you know I would tell you."

"Then I'll just have to ask her myself." He said and was about to leave when Booth stopped him.

"Sweets, I'm warning you."

"Why are you so protective of her? The last several sessions I've had with the two of you, I've noticed an increase in how you defend her and try to protect her. What are you protecting her from?"

"Stay away from T-Bones." He said as he almost slipped and said her first name. He prayed Sweets had not caught his near slip but of course, the psychologist never missed a beat.

"What did you almost call her?" He asked at Booth looked at him angry. He was angry that the young man would let things go and he was angry with himself for the slip. Booth turned away grabbing the files on his desk.

"I need to find Bones and get her back to the lab." He said as he walked back over towards Sweets. "I'm only going to say this one last time, Sweets. Leave her alone." He turned and left the man looking slightly worried.

It had been two days since Booth had warned Sweets not to go near Brennan. Angela was sitting in Brennan's office with Michael talking about how she was going to teach him how to paint as soon as he knew how to talk. And that she wanted Brennan to help teach him languages and about bones when he was a little older. He started to fuss making Angela smile before standing to take him back to her own office to feed him leaving Brennan in her office to sit back in her chair and rest her hand on the tiny baby bump that had begun to grow. Suddenly she was startled by Sweets walking through her office door.

"Dr. Brennan?"

"Sweets. What are you doing here?" She asked as she sat forward in her chair.

"I came to speak with you. It has come to my attention that there is something wrong. Your personality and attitude has changed dramatically and it seems you are having a very difficult time dealing with this case. It is so apparent that other have begun to worry. Myself included. Would you like to talk about what's bothering you?" She just looked at him. She knew she and Booth needed to stay quiet about the pregnancy especially for now and she knew he would push her until she snapped.

"Sweets I do not have the slightest idea what you are talking about. I am working on gathering all the information we possibly can to solve this case and put the murderer behind bars." He stood looking at her for a moment.

"Dr. Brennan. I cannot help you until you speak to me and so until you do I will not be leaving." He said sitting on the arm of her couch to look at her as she looked shocked not knowing exactly what to do.

"Dr. Brennan." they heard as Wendell came to the door. "I found something that may help in the case." He said before they walked towards the bone room where they looked at the tiny set of remains. Sweets stood back a bit but he seemed to be in Brennan's way as she moved around the table. "There are slight depressions in the cervical spine here and here. They are the slightest marks but it seems to be the only scratches that do not fit with the rest of the remains."

"Yes…" Brennan trailed off as she began to examine the scratches on the bones. After ten minutes of staring, she placed the bone down and went to walk out of the room only to run into Sweets again. "Sweets. There is nothing wrong. But I am becoming increasingly annoyed with you. If you wish to keep yourself from getting in my way and me becoming angry with you I suggest you leave." She told him before she walked passed him and into the lab only to see him following her.

"Dr. Brennan. I told you unless you are willing to speak to me and tell me what is wrong I will stay here." She took a breath trying to calm herself, knowing that her temper had become much shorter recently and she could not simply kill the young man.

That was until four hours later he was still following her around badgering her to tell him what was wrong. She was trying to work on the first victims remains when she had tried to walk around the table only to have him bump into her causing her belly to go into the corner of the table. As her belly pushed hard into the corner, she let out a hiss of pain. She stood for a moment doubled over the table with one hand on her belly and the other on the table as everyone around the table stopped.

"Dr. Brennan, are you okay?" Sweets asked as Brennan stood holding her belly a little longer than she should have. Angela walked over as Brennan did not straighten up and was still holding her belly.

"Bren…" She asked quietly before she heard her friend whisper.

"I'm fine Ange." Brennan took a deep breath, stood up, and glared at Sweets. That was the last straw. He may not have known about the growing child in her womb but he just put it at risk and she was not going to stand for it. She turned on her heels and marched up the stairs to the little lounge overlook before she pulled her phone out leaving the others to look at Sweets.

"Booth." She heard after three rings.

"Booth…" She said shakily as she still felt a little pain in her belly.

"Bones, you okay? What's wrong?" He asked worried.

"Why is Sweets here?" She asked trying to get her voice under control.

"What?" He nearly yelled into the phone. "I told him to- I'll be over in a minute." He said before they hung up and Brennan lay on the little couch waiting for Booth to show up. She did not want to cause a problem with Sweets and she did not want Booth to kill him or injure the young man she merely wanted the man to understand he cannot just wander into the lab and interfere with her work even when her hormones and sensitivity was not heightened by her pregnancy. She took a breath as she laid her hand on her little bulge that was still sore. She laid there until she heard the roar of Booth's voice as he walked into the lab. She looked over and saw him walking over to the platform as Sweets tried to back away as far as possible.

"I'll deal with you later. Where is she?" He asked and everyone pointed to the little lounge before he took off up the stairs and over to her still lying with a hand on her belly as tears silently slid from her eyes. "Bones…" He said before he went to sit beside her. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Sweets showed up this morning and was bugging me about why I was involved in the case and he refused to leave and he's been getting in my way all day." She started and look at him angrily he knew there was more as another tear slid from her eye.

"Why are you crying?" He asked gently as he whipped a tear from her eye.

"Because I was walking around the table on the platform and he bumped me and I fell into the corner of the table." She said as she rubbed her belly making him look as his heart started to race. "Booth, it still hurts." She said softly.

"You want to go to the doctor?" He asked trying to put his anger at the shrink aside to deal with Brennan and her pain. He saw her give a small nod, not even thinking. "Alright." He said as he stood up.

"Booth. Don't kill him. It was an accident." She said making him look at her a minute.

"Bones, he was getting in your way of solving a murder. He was in your way and you were hurt…." He saw her shake her head making him sigh. "Let me call the doctor first. Then we'll deal with the other stuff." He saw her give a small nod as she rubbed her belly again. He dialed a number before leaning on the railing and looking at the glances and worried looks that were cast from the others.

"I wonder if she's okay." Angela said looking up as she saw Booth sit down. "She was holding her belly and was bent for a while, that bump must have really hurt her." She said.

"I didn't mean to. I was actually trying to move out of the way." Sweets defended. He looked up as they saw Booth stand up and turn back to where Brennan was talking. "You think he's going to kill me?" He asked worried making everyone look at him.

"You know how Booth is with Brennan. If anything happens to her he takes it personally." Angela said. "If I were you I would start running." She said before she smiled.

"Who could he be calling?" Cam asked as she looked up making the others do the same.

"I hope it's not about me." Sweets said afraid of what Booth was going to do, especially since he had ignored the agent and went to talk to Brennan anyway. They saw Booth hang up and move away from the railing before he helped Brennan to her feet. Angela began to look a little more afraid as Booth had to help her down the stairs as she held her belly and bent a few times in pain.

"What the hell did you do to her, Sweets?" Angela asked before she ran over to find out as the others started to follow. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine Ange." Brennan said with a small forced smile making Angela look at Booth who looked more worried than she felt. "We just… uh…." She tried, as she had to bend a bit and put her weight onto the arm Booth was holding at the elbow to help her walk.

"Okay, you're really scaring me." Angela said and looked at Booth again.

"Ange, don't worry, tell Cam she just needs to go home, the corner of that table really dug in." Booth said trying to stay calm. "And tell Sweets I'll be back for him." He said angrily.

"Bren, you need to go to the doctor if it's hurting like this." She said as Brennan took a slow breath.

"I know, I'm actually going to have Booth take me now." She said making Angela look at Booth who nodded as he started walking again. "I'll call you later to let you know I am fine." The two left and Angela turned to look at the others as they stopped in front of her.

"Booth's taking her to the doctors. The corner of that table apparently dug in hard." She explained before looking at Sweets feeling sorry for him.

"She didn't seem to hit the table that hard. It was only a bump." Sweets said confused making everyone think and agree.

"You're right…." Cam said trying to think.

"It was probably a nerve or something. She said she would let us know. But Sweets, Booth didn't look happy with you at all. I think you should avoid him for a bit, at least until he cools down, especially if something happened to Brennan." Angela warned as Sweets nodded and the group went back to work as they waited for Brennan's call.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Brennan and Booth walked back into the lab three hours later. The group of friends went rushing over as Brennan was walking on her own and only needed to be steadied by Booth as the others stopped her all asking different questions at the same time. She looked between all of them and noticed Sweets was not in the group. She looked at Booth as he looked over at the corner of the platform where Sweets was standing looking very nervous.

"I just want to lay down for a bit before I get back to work." Brennan said looking at the group. "Nothing is wrong, they checked to makes sure everything was fine and there was no lasting damage, although I will have a bruise for a little while, everything is fine." she repeated and then looked at Booth who was still looking angry but still relieved.

"So nothing is wrong? Then why were you and still are in pain?" Angela asked not convinced.

"Ange…." Booth trailed off looking at her telling her to let it go. "Come on Bones, you need to lay down for a bit." He said as he walked with her to her office where she laid down on the couch. The group looked at each other before they nominated Angela to go in and find out what was going on. Sweets watched Booth walk Brennan to her office where she laid on the couch and he sat in the chair directly next to it and was talking to her as Angela walked in making Booth's head snap up and his body shift into a tense position ready to protect. He wondered what was going on as the door shut and the three started talking.

"Okay, I know there's something going on so tell me right now." Angela demanded before she saw Brennan look at Booth who was still looking at her as she stood waiting for an answer. "There's something wrong and since I'm your best friend Brennan, I should know." She saw Brennan look back to Booth who took a deep breath before he stood and walked behind the couch.

"Angela, there's nothing wrong. The doctor said everything is progressing normally." Brennan said as Angela stared at her confused before she looked at Booth.

"Nice slip there, Bones." He said making her turn her head to look at him lean over the back of the couch. "You should have your mouth taped shut when you get medicine." He said as she looked at him with a smile before Booth looked up and now had to explain. "Ange, nothing leaves this room. I'm completely serious." He said.

"What's wrong?" She asked worried.

"Nothing is wrong. Bones' just needed to have some medicine to relax a bit." They looked down to see Brennan starting to doze off. "I tried to take her home but she refused so she said she would lay down here so as long as she does, it doesn't matter."

"What happened? She didn't hit the table all that hard."

"The doctor said that the corner hit a ligament that is holding her uterus. It was already stretched so when it was hit it sent pain and spasms."

"Why would the ligaments be stretched?" She asked looked at Booth for a minute before her eyes went wide and snapped back to Brennan. "Are you serious? I didn't even know she was dating anyone. Did you tell her boyfriend? He should be here with her." Angela said wondering why her friend hadn't said anything.

"Already is, Ange." he said as he looked back at Brennan as she tossed a bit in her sleep. When he looked back at Angela, he saw her staring at him completely shocked. "You okay Ange?" He asked before she pulled herself together and a smile was plastered on her face.

"You and Brennan?" She asked as Booth nodded. "How long? I mean no one had a clue at all."

"Almost four months." He said with a smirk. Angela looked like she was about to explode before she noticed the group of friends standing and looking at them through the window. Booth looked and saw the same thing before he turned and closed the blinds. When he turned around, he saw Angela begin jumping up and down before she wrapped her arms would him in a tight happy hug.

"How far is she?" She asked as she pulled back and looked down at her sleeping friend.

"16 weeks." Angela's eyes went back to Booth. "What?"

"From that night after Vincent…?" She asked shocked as Booth looked at her then at Brennan before his eyes settled back on her. "Oh yeah she told me." She said adding a tone to imply exactly what Brennan had told her making Booth give a small groan and look back at Brennan. "Don't worry about what she told me. You know it's just harmless girl talk." She smiled before hugging Booth again before she did a little dance making Booth laugh at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked as he chuckled.

"I'm so happy for you guys. I mean I knew you slept together that night but she…. She never told me about you actually going out." Booth smirked as he leaned back onto the couch.

"We don't want anyone knowing. Not yet anyway. If the bureau finds out, I'm not sure how they would handle it right now. They had their rules and until I can find out a way around them or how my bosses will react we can't risk people knowing about me and her."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Just be careful, and make sure you go easy with your boss. I mean if we lose you… There is no way we can work with another agent. Brennan would probably kill them long before they could lean anyone's name." Angela said making Booth smirk before they heard Brennan start to murmur and scrunch her face in her sleep. "Is she in pain?"

"You could say that." Booth said as he leaned down and ran his hand over her forehead. "Bones, it's okay. You're safe." He said softly as she began to relax and he looked at Angela who was standing with a bright grin. "What?" He asked thinking he was in for it.

"It's just so cute how you can calm her down and actually how you calm her down." She smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. Just remember. This goes nowhere." She nodded and smiled brightly before she turned to leave. As she went to walk through the doorway she took on last glace as Booth leaned down and kissed Brennan's forehead.

Angela looked at the group as they ran over to her worried and she tried to stop smiling. She looked at them as they all demanded answers at the same time. She held up her hand to stop all of them.

"Hey. Brennan is fine. She has a little bruising and she has a little pain medicine to take but she's going to be fine." More than fine, Angela thought before she looked at them as they still looked at her wanting more. "When Brennan is ready to tell you what exactly happened, she will. Until then, Booth is taking really good care of her and she's going to be fine." She smiled as they all relaxed a bit, still confused as to what was going on but took Angela's word for it and they went back to work as Sweets walked over to her.

"Angela, what is going on? The way they've been acting, what happened today…?" He trailed off as Angela hid her smile and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I can't help you this time baby boy shrink. See I'm a little surprised Booth hasn't come knocked you out yet. But there really is nothing to worry about. She's going to be fine. Believe me she will." Angela smirked before she walked away as Sweets saw Booth walk out of the office and over to him.

"Sweets." He said walking over trying to stay calm like he had promised Brennan he would when he spoke to the young psychologist.

"Agent Booth. How is Dr. Brennan?" He asked still clearly worried making Booth sigh.

"Look I'm not going to kill you, only because it was an accident, and Bones told me to be nice." He took a breath and looked at the man as he twitched afraid of him. "Why the hell did you come badger her after I told you to leave her alone?"

"You wouldn't tell me anything and there is obviously a reason she has been acting in such a manor. I needed to know. She usually would have told me after I asked a few times, but she held on and when I bumped her… Booth I swear it was an accident and it was barely at all.

"Well it was enough to-" Booth stopped himself and looked away as he calmed down and collected his thoughts. "Sweets, like I told you before she's fine and is just having a tough time with this case. Let her be and let her deal on her own this time. She does not need a twelve year old jumping into everything and bothering her, especially right now. So back off and let her breathe." He watched Sweets nod as he took a breath.

"Booth. I just want to know. Why have you suddenly gotten more protective over her? You've been at her side and backing people off for a while now. Are you trying to get her to see your feelings for her?" He asked making Booth look at him with a look in his eyes making Sweets drop his eyes.

"Sweets, this is none of your business. Drop it and go back to your little office and play shrink." Sweets looked back into his eyes before nodding and he turned and walked away leaving Booth to walk over and find out if they had found anything new on the remains while Brennan continued to sleep.

Booth sat on the overlook lounge talking with Cam and Wendell about their case while Hodgins worked on particulates, Angela was with Michael who was not feeling well and Brennan was once again laying down, they were desperately trying to find something that would help. After a month of this case being open there was not much, they had and they were not able to find much or anything. It had been almost a month since Sweets had bumped into her but she was becoming more and more tired and Booth was trying to spend more time at the lab to try to help. They all went to their feet and looked into the lab as several agents walked in. Booth recognized them as Miller and Ledger and they had a stretcher they were wheeling in with a black bag on it with a second placed on top.

"I hope that's not what I think it is." Cam said.

"Bones is gonna kill them." Booth said with a little sigh before the three went down to two agents with smirks of pride. "What's this?"

"There was another two bodies found earlier today. An anonymous time came in that someone was throwing what looked like a body off the side of the road on north Jefferson Davis highway at two in the morning. We went out and found a body just like they told us." Ledger explained.

"Then why two bags?" Cam asked.

"The woman was pregnant and the child had been cut out." Booth took a breath and glanced towards Brennan's office. "They're fresh; we knew you had someone who did fresher kills so…."

"Yeah. Cam?" He looked at the woman who nodded and told the two agents to put the bodies in her autopsy room as everyone followed. They saw the Agents say something to Booth before they left and Cam started getting ready with Wendell's help as Brennan walked in wondering what was going on.

"More victims?" She asked making Booth look at her worried as she watched Cam begin to explain.

"They haven't been dead not long." Cam unwrapped the two bodies to revile a young woman with her belly sliced and a very tiny baby in the other bag. Brennan stared. She could not take her eyes from the remains of the gutted woman and the mutilated tiny baby who did not even have a chance at life. Slowly her arms slid around her belly that was starting to show more and more as she could not tear her eyes from the remains.

"Dr. Brennan?" Wendell asked making everyone look at her as she stood ignoring everyone in the room.

"Dr. Brennan, are you okay?" Cam asked as Booth looked at her worried before he moved in front of her to block her view of the remains.

"Come on, Bones." He said trying to make her move but she stood still holding her belly as she still stared even though he was in her way. "Bones." He said and still she did not react.

"What's wrong?" Cam asked as she walked over stopping beside Booth. "Booth?"

"Cam, she needs to go home." He said softly as he reached out to touch Brennan's arm.

"Yeah, take her home." She said as Booth tried to call Brennan again and still got no response. "What's wrong with her?"

"I'll tell you later." Booth said as he shifted and lifted Brennan into his arms. As he lifted her up, she closed her eyes and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face. "You're okay Bones." He said as she shook in his arms. He walked out carrying Brennan making everyone look confused and worried.

That night Booth heard a knock on his door. He got up from sitting with the sleeping Brennan on the couch and answered the door. He opened it to see Cam as she walked in looking at him determined to know what happened and what was going on. Booth tried to quiet her but before he could do anything he heard a cry from the other room making him forget about Cam and go back to Brennan who was tossing in her sleep. He sat on the edge of the couch as she shot up trying to catch her breath as tears rolled down her face. Booth pulled her into his arms and shushed her as Cam stood at the doorway watching.

"He was…. And he…" She tried to say but broke into sobs as Booth just held her.

"Alright. It was just another dream, you're safe. Okay? No one can get you. I'm right here baby." He said making Cam's eyes go wide as he calmed her down and she quickly fell back to sleep as he laid her back on the couch. He stood to see Cam's shocked face before he pulled her into the kitchen.

"Is this what I think it is, Seeley?" Cam asked looking at him daring him to lie. He glanced through the doorway to look at Brennan back to sleep.

"Yeah, Camille." He sighed as he looked back at her. "Look we don't want everyone knowing."

"There have been rumors of you two together for years, since well before I came to the Jeffersonian. People are already expecting it, and from what I hear the FBI and the Jeffersonian have pools and bets for when you'll get together." She gave a smile, as Booth looked at her shocked.

"What?" He finally asked.

"You two have been going back and forth for years, it's about damn time you went for it."

"Cam-"

"Don't start. Your secret is safe, but you really should tell everyone. Now tell me what happened back at the lab." Booth looked back at Brennan as she slept soundly still. "What is going on?"

"Cam, this really needs to stay quiet, at least until after the case if closed." He watched her nod before he continued. "She's… she's been having a hard time recently. She's eighteen weeks." He said waiting for her to catch on. After a minute of her looking confused, understanding began to creep across her face.

"Are you saying… Seeley…?" She trailed off too shocked to think correctly.

"Yeah Camille. She's been having dreams about someone breaking in and attacking her."

"Attacking her?" She paused as Booth nodded. "Like the victim earlier was attacked?"

"Yeah, she hasn't slept much the last month between that and the second victim hit her hard too."

"Is that why she's been sleeping in the office recently?"

"Yeah. Even then, she doesn't sleep long before she wakes up. She can't take much more."

"Have you talked to Sweets? He might be able to help out." She offered as they looked at Brennan as she murmured in her sleep. "There might be something he can tell you that could help."

"Telling an FBI psychologist about the relationship between an agent and a consultant, who is now pregnant. Yeah, great idea Cam." He said giving her a look she knew well.

"You're going to have to tell him and everyone some time. Isn't there anything that could trump the rule? I mean we were fine, why can't you and her be aloud?"

"Because you and me…. You're not a consultant. You, basically just work at the lab. Bones… Bones is a co-worker to the FBI, she's…"

"Your partner." Cam finished for him and saw him nod. "Well hasn't he been telling you and her to get together for years now? I mean it can't be impossible for you two to be together if he's been telling you to do it." Booth looked at her shocked that he and Brennan hadn't thought of it sooner. They heard Brennan give a small cry and Cam watched Booth walk over and lean over the back of the couch. He gently pushed some stray hair out of Brennan's face as he spoke so softly and tenderly.

"It's okay. No one can get you you're safe here. I'm here, Bones." He said as he ran his hand over her cheek. "It's okay now, just relax, Baby." He whispered as she relaxed and turned her head towards his hand.

"Booth…" She sighed out as she relaxed completely and Booth straightened up and looked back to Cam who had a small smile.

"You always did say you loved her."

"Yeah…" Booth trailed off as he looked back at Brennan. "Cam, could you just take her off the schedule for the next couple days? She's been pushing with the kid victim, adding to her reaction today…"

"Seeley, you didn't even need to ask. I'll take her off tonight until Monday morning. You should maneuver things to stay with her."

"I already did. I have Ledger taking over for me until I tell him. Keep me updated though."

"I will, just take care of her." He nodded with a small smile as she showed herself out leaving Booth to lean on the couch and look down at Brennan.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Booth opened his front door to see Sweets standing with his arms crossed making Booth freeze.

"Agent Booth, you do not look ill, yet you have called out the last three days including today and you left early on Monday. You and Dr. Brennan missed our session on Tuesday; I want to know what is going on."

"Nothing is going on Sweets. Why don't you go see if Bones is home and talk to her." He told him. Sweets opened his mouth to speak but looked behind Booth as there was a thump making Booth turn to look. Brennan stumbled from the bedroom and ran to the bathroom quickly before the door slammed making Booth take a deep breath and look back at Sweets who stood unmoving, unblinking, in complete shock.

"Wa-was that…?" Was all he could say as Booth rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, Bones hasn't been feeling well." He said as Sweets walked in still in complete shock.

"You and her….?"

"Are you asking as an FBI shrink or a friend?" Booth asked as Sweets looked at him wondering if the agent was serious.

"You're asking me this after she just ran from your bedroom and into your bathroom?" He asked not knowing what to say as the shock began to wear down. "What is going on?" He demanded and stared at Booth waiting for an answer.

"FBI or friend?" He asked making Sweets look at him before he sighed and glanced at the hallway.

"Friend. What is going on? I heard about you having to carry her from the lab on Monday. What happened? Are you two together?"

"Yeah, Bones and me are together Sweets. And she's just having a hard time with this case, but she's doing better. We're going back on Monday morning." He said before they heard the bathroom door open making both men look to see Brennan walking towards them as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Dr. Brennan…." Sweets started but was not sure what to say.

"You okay now?" Booth asked as she stopped beside him.

"I'm fine Booth. Just need to be careful of what I eat, no matter what it wants." She paused glancing at Sweets. "I'm going to get dressed." She told him before walking back into the bedroom leaving Sweets completely confused as that shocked face came back across his face.

"Booth….."

"Sweets don't start. We're fine at work, we've been working together for the last four months while we were together and you never noticed a thing so, just drop it and leave us alone." Booth warned as Sweets opened his mouth but shut it quickly.

"I want to hear about this later, but I won't push the issue." He said softly.

"You'll find out when you need to know." Booth said as Sweets nodded.

"I will keep this quiet until it effects your work, but my suggestion is to get this in the open and get this worked out."

"We don't need your shrink talk, Sweets." Sweets nodded before he turned and left Booth to go find Brennan who had finished getting dressed but was sitting on the side of the bed with her eyes closed as she took slow breaths. "Bones, what's wrong?" He asked as he walked closer, worried.

"It's nothing Booth." She said as she looked up at him. "My stomach still is a little off, that's all. You better get dressed; we're going to be late for the appointment." He smirked and gave a little chuckle as he turned to get his clothes for a shower before they left and went to the doctor's appointment.

Booth and Brennan were sitting in the room with the Doctor as she went down a list of questions about the pregnancy and how Brennan was feeling. Booth sat and listened not interrupting as Brennan answered all of the doctors questions. Finally, the doctor asked Brennan to lie down on the examination table so they could take an ultrasound and make sure the baby is growing well.

"Have you had any pain since your visit about a month ago?" The doctor asked as she put the blue jelly onto Brennan's belly and she started to use the ultrasound machine to see what was going on inside her womb.

"No, I felt slight pain for the first three days after the visit but it seems to be completely fine now." Brennan told her as the doctor nodded pushing buttons on the keyboard.

"Your baby looks in perfect health. Would you like to know what the gender is?" She looked between Brennan and Booth as they looked at each other.

"Booth?" She asked as he smirked.

"It's up to you, Bones." He said as she continued to look at him a moment later before turning back to the doctor.

"If you are able to discern the gender I think we would like to know." She said looking back at Booth who gave a small smile as the doctor nodded and looked back at the screen before moving the wand around a bit.

"It would seem you're having…." She smiled and turned the monitor a bit to show them the little baby.

"Dr. Saroyan, you're her boss. I'm sure she told you why she's been sick for so long." Sweets said following Cam around the lab. "I went to talk to Booth this morning and I saw her run from his bedroom to the bathroom to get sick. He told me they were together but he refused to tell me anything else. You have to know something."

"Sweets-"

"Come on. You have to know what is going on. You're close to Booth and you're Dr. Brennan's boss."

"Sweets you need to stop. If there was anything going on, I'm not saying there is but if there was, they will tell you when they are ready. You can't force things out of them, especially things they don't want to talk about." She told him but before he could say anything back Angela stopped next to them.

"Didn't you ever think that's why Brennan hates psychology? I mean she is forced to go into a therapy because she wants to work with Booth and then you sit, poke, and pull out things that hurt her. Most of the times she's not ready to talk to her boyfriend or partner, or whatever you want to call Booth. What makes you think dragging information that she doesn't want to share yet makes her feel?"

"What?" Sweets asked confused.

"Brennan is my best friend. She's told me a lot but I know she's told Booth more, but Booth knows there's so much more that Brennan wont say with anyone, even him. He will find out everything the same way he found anything else out. He'll wait until she's ready to talk and then let her say it all. Maybe you should take a few lessons from him as to how to deal with Brennan."

"I've seen a lot of people try to work with her and deal with her, but Booth is the only one who has ever been able to get through to her at all. To have her act and work almost like a normal person, not some robot scientist." Cam added.

"Sweets if you really want to know everything go to Booth and just tell him that you'll wait as long as it takes but as his friend you would like to help with whatever is going on. You know let him know that you're there to talk to when he's ready."

"What about Dr. Brennan?" Sweets asked taking in all of the information that the two women were offering.

"When he is ready to talk to you, Brennan will be too. He would be talking and telling everyone now but he knows Brennan's feelings, and fears. He knows Brennan." Angela smiled with a shrug.

"I'm a psychologist. Why is it that I'm having such a hard time talking with these two and dealing with them. I've never had such trouble with anyone else ever."

"Because they aren't like other people. You need to treat them differently. Give them room, they know you are there and willing to help, they've gone to you before about things, so don't worry. Just reiterate that you're there when they're ready and let them be." Angela patted his shoulder.

"It'll all work out." Cam said before the two women turned and left Sweets to stand by himself in the middle of the lab.

Brennan was still lying on the table talking softly to Booth as the doctor walked in with equipment they would need to run several routine tests. Booth watched Brennan tense slightly as the doctor pulled on her gloves and picked up a syringe. He stood from his chair and went to her side grabbing her hand making her look up at him.

"It'll be okay, Bones." He said softly before he bent to lean down a bit with a small smile. "We'll get this done and over with and then you won't have to worry about anything." He said as he could see the worry start to slide from her face.

"Don't leave." She whispered making him shake his head and bend down to hold his weight on his right elbow that was on the table.

"I told you before I'm not going anywhere. I made a promise a long time ago to stay with you no matter what, so now, you're stuck with me." He smiled before he gave her a sweet kiss. "No matter what happens or how pissed you get at me, I'm not leaving you. You can't even push me away." He smirked making her give a little smile.

"Alright. You're going to feel a little pinch, but I need you to hold still for me." The doctor said as Brennan nodded before looking back up at Booth worriedly. He held her hand with his left hand and he was leaning over her with his right elbow on the table while he smoother her hair back with his right hand.

"I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere, no matter what." He said as he saw the worry in her eyes. "You'll be okay." She gave a nod as she turned her face more towards him and closed her eyes as the doctor was about to push the needle tip in. "Everything will be over before you know it, and then we can go home and relax for the rest of the day before we get Parker for the extended weekend." She nodded as her grip on his hand tightened slightly. He glanced at the Doctor as she began and Brennan twitched slightly and griped his hand harder.

"Almost done." The doctor said.

"Almost there." Booth whispered as he leaned farther down. "Just a little longer and then you can be back to teaching Parker all about your bones. You know you have him driving me crazy. I get done at work with you and then i go home to you and him." He chuckled.

"Alright there. That one is all done." The doctor said as she pulled the needle out and handed it to her assistant. "You did very well. I'm going to let this settle for a bit before we get some blood work and then you can go home with your very first pictures of your baby." She smiled as Booth nodded and saw the two walk out leaving them alone again. Booth looked down at Brennan as she slowly opened her eyes to look up at him.

"Booth…." She trailed off as she looked into his eyes. "I love you." She said making him pause for a moment knowing it was rare to hear her speak of her feelings, especially ones so close to her metaphorical heart.

"I love you too, Bones." The two staid in their places until the doctor walked in and started taking blood work before they left.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Jeffersonian team sat with Booth, Miller and Ledger in Brennan's office talking about the case late Friday night. It had been a week since they found the third victim and Booth was still trying to train the two agents how to work with a forensics team. Booth had been cornered by Brennan about the two agents' involvement in the case as they were constantly in the way and he finally explained that he was teaching them and showing them the ropes when working with a team like the Jeffersonian. She reluctantly agreed to help and told the others what the two agents were doing constantly walking around.

"So the third victim is a patient from the same loony bin? Could one of the other crazy's done this?" Miller asked.

"It is a psychiatric hospital not a loony bin." Angela told him as the others tensed. "And they aren't crazies. They are people who have illnesses and diseases. You wouldn't like being called the first bunch of idiots. Or maybe you want to be called Gumshoes? Or-"

"Ange." Booth said cutting her off before she stood and stormed off.

"Booth, she's right." Brennan said as she stood and went after her friend.

"One of their friends, another one who used to work here is sentenced to a mental hospital. If you want to stay alive, you should keep your mouths shut. Especially Angela and Bones." He told them and saw them stare at him.

"What?" Asked Miller.

"His name was Zack." Hodgins said. "He was my best friend. He is in there because of a Cannibalistic crime. He is still one of us and part of our family so you'll watch what you say if you know what's good for you." He stood up and went to find the two women.

"Cannibalistic?" Miller asked Booth, shocked and confused.

"He stabbed someone in the heart while Gormogon ate the guy. Just… stay here and start going over the files." He told them as he went to find Brennan. The two agents looked at Cam who sat quietly watching everyone.

"Working with us, you'll find we are very close knit. We are a family, we take care of each other, and we hurt together. I know you do not know what we've all been through and would like to fit in with us right away but it doesn't work like that. It took years to get where we are, it took a lot to get Brennan and Booth into the same room for a while, and well that's what I hear anyway. I came to the Jeffersonian a year after they started working together and even then relationships with each person were strained but we worked hard and stuck together through some pretty rough times. You want to be part of our team, you have to earn it."

"Hard times?" Miller asked.

"If you want to know what this team has been through ask them all. Ask them what caused them to band together, how they became so protective over each other and scared to death when something happened to them. Ask what happened to them. But you'll need to talk to them; I'm not telling you everything." She said before walking to her office. The two agents were left to talk softly as they looked over the files on the table that the Jeffersonian had put together.

Booth and Brennan walked back into the office fifteen minutes later as the two Agents looked up from the files. Brennan glanced at them before turning to look at the papers on her desk.

"I'll see what he says. He wanted me to go back earlier but with the third victim and all of the new forensics that came in I never was able to get there." Brennan said as she started searching through her papers.

"When did you go see him last time?" Booth asked as he walked from the doorway and sat in her seat.

"After we had an argument right before the second victim was found. I went to talk to him and see how he was since I had been unable to visit him since before Mr. Nigel-Murray was killed. Besides you know he's the only one who makes any sense."

"To you. Bones he's a robot scientist to normal society. You're the only one who can understand him."

"I think he would enjoy seeing you also." Booth leaned back in the chair and looked at her for a moment. "He has asked about you the last several visits I had with him."

"You told him, didn't you?" Brennan stopped moving before she glanced at the two agents who were failing at pretending not to listen. "You two need to have practice more if that's the best you can do." Booth said making the two agents look over at them.

"We'll just head out. See you at the office Monday morning." Ledger said standing up as he placed the file back on the table.

"Yeah, we'll see who we can track down and see what they have to say about this third victim." Booth nodded as the two agents left. He stood up and walked around the desk making Brennan take a step back as he leaned on the desk in front of her. "Leave this stuff here and we can get some take out on the way home and just relax for the night. We have to get Parker tomorrow and you know he's going to have us running all weekend." He smirked as she took a deep breath and looked at him before shaking her head.

"You know I have to finish those papers for my grad students. I can't just forget about them." She said before he reached out resting his hands on her hips and pulling her closer to him with a small smile. "Booth…" She said but didn't fight as he pulled her even closer with a small grin.

"Bones." He answered as she sighed and leaned into him resting her forehead against his, both looking into the others eyes. "Let's get you and the baby some food and then some sleep before Parker gets us tomorrow. You know he's going to drag us to the aquarium and the park. He's dying to teach you how to throw the football" He saw her smile as she pulled her head back a bit and looked at him.

"Parker is very lucky to have you as a father, and so is our baby."

"You're going to be a great mother, Bones." He said with a smirk as he stood up straight. "Come on, let's get going." She sighed as she pulled away to finish gathering her things.

"Fine, but I have to grade these papers." She said giving him a small smile that she held only for him, making him unable to tell her no.

Booth sat on the bench at the park watching Parker show Brennan how to throw the football. As she tried to throw it several times and failing miserably making Parker fall to the ground laughing, Booth stood up and walked over chuckling making her give him a soft glare.

"Stop laughing at me, Booth." She demanded.

"Come here, I'll show you." He chuckled as he walked up behind her and wrapped his hands around to hold over top of hers on the ball as he kept his head looking over her shoulder as he spoke softly into her ear. "Put your fingers like this…." He said placing her hand and fingers where they were supposed to go as Parker backed up ready to catch the ball. "Pull back and…" He helped her pull back and throw. It went through the air and landed by Parker as Brennan smiled and looked at Booth excited.

"That was…" She trailed off as Booth chuckled at her excitement.

"You've never thrown a football?" He asked as he saw her shake her head. "Well what else haven't you done so we can change that?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around her as Parker ran over to them.

"There are many things I was never able to do. I was not raised in, what I assume is, the traditional way."

"How could I forget?" He smirked before he leaned settling his lips softly against hers in a gentle, loving kiss.

"Ewwww!" Parker laughed making Booth let go of Brennan before he wrapped his arms around his son and spun around making the ten year old laugh uncontrollably as Booth stumbled and fell to the ground chuckling as Brennan smiled at the two. "Dad!" He called as Booth started tickling the boy stopping as his phone rang.

"Booth…" He answered as he stood up and helped Parker to his feet. "Parker, stay with Bones." Booth said before walking off a bit to talk while Brennan looked concerned before she distracted the boy by having him show her how to throw the football again until Booth was finished on the phone.

"Bones, are you and dad gonna get married?" Parker asked as the two walked over to sit on the bench to wait for Booth to finish. Brennan looked at the boy shocked before glancing at Booth still talking on the phone. "Jonny's dad married his girlfriend when they were together for two years. You and my dad have been going out for forever and you're gonna have a baby. So you and dad are gonna get married right?"

"Parker…." Brennan did not know what to say or how to say it. "I think your dad and I will get to that stage of our relationship eventually, but as of this moment I believe we have too much going on to think of much else."

"But you will, right? Cause Dad really likes you a lot. He said that he even loved you and he's been saying that for a long time. You do love him too right?" He asked looking slightly worried.

"Yes, Parker. I love your father very much. But marriage is not something you just go and do. There are several things that need to happen before that can be considered, there needs to be a reason to enter into such a relationship. In my experiences, marriage causes more problems than anything."

"But, you and dad love each other."

"Yes, very much so, but right now we are perfectly happy like this. He and I together with you. Why do we need some piece of paper to say we are allowed to be happy?" She asked as he thought.

"My mom said that when her and Drew get married, that they're gonna move to Pennsylvania. Do you think I'll still be allowed to see you and dad?" He asked as he looked at her worried making her heart skip a beat before she wrapped her arms around the boy and pulled him closer to her.

"Of course you will Parker. There's nothing in this world that could stop you from seeing your father."

"Even mom?"

"Parker, what's going on? Why are you asking this?"

"Cause mom said that when we move Dad has to stay here and that when I wanted to play football and everything, Drew will do it. I don't like Drew." He said as he scrunched his face slightly making Brennan nod as she glanced at Booth.

"No one will ever stop your dad from seeing you, and no one can ever take his place. He'll always be your father no matter who your mother marries. I promise that everything will work out." He smiled up at her for a moment before he hugged her tight. "Now, why don't we figure out how your father throws this so well?" She smiled as they stood up and started playing with the football again. Suddenly two strong arms wrapped around Brennan making her laugh as she turned her head to the side to come face to face with Booth. "What was that call about?"

"We have to get to the lab. First was Hacker. There's another body found. This one was found at West End Federal Psychiatric hospital." She quickly turned in his arms and looked at him worried. "It's not Zack, don't worry. But we might want to talk to him and see if he know anything. I'm sure Parker would love to visit the squints." He smirked as Brennan looked at Parker as he ran back over with the ball. "Hey, bud, Bones and me have to go check something out. You want to hang at the lab for a bit?" At the mention of the lab, the boy's eyes light up and he nodded with such excitement Brennan could not help but smile. The three of them went back to the car and drove to the lab where they asked Angela to keep an eye on him while they went to talk to Zack.

On the way to the psychiatric hospital, Brennan sat looking out the window thinking about what Parker had told her. She knew that if Rebecca moved away and kept Parker away from Booth, it would hurt him, and she did not want to cause problems that were not there but she wanted him to be aware of what was going on. She just didn't know what to do, she would have to discuss the matter with Angela and see what her opinion was on the matter.

"You okay Bones?" She heard breaking her from her thoughts. She turned her head, looked at him, and gave a quick nod. "What's wrong?" He asked knowing she was hiding something.

"Nothing, Booth." She told him as she turned back to look out the window. After another five minutes, she sighed and looked back at Booth. "Booth?" He glanced at her before looking back at the road. "Do you know what Rebecca and Drew are planning to do in the next few years?" He looked at her confused.

"Why would I? That's Rebecca's life. Why?"

"It's just something Parker said to me when you were on the phone."

"Parker? What did he say?"

"He asked if he would be allowed to still see you and me after Rebecca and Drew get married and move to Pennsylvania. He said that Rebecca told him that Drew will play football with him and everything when they move." She saw the look on Booth's face as he tried to push down his growing anger and frustration with his ex.

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that Drew would never be able to replace you and that no matter where he went you would still love him and that he could stay with us anytime." Booth nodded as a small smirk crossed his face as he glanced at her again.

"That why you two were sitting on the bench for so long?"

"Yes, that and he was asking about other things." She said looking back out her window making him look at her confused and curious.

"Like what?" He asked making her look back at him.

"Just about you and I and our relationship." She said with a shrug.

"What? What about me and you?"

"Booth, it was simple questions, nothing that you need to get upset and worried about." She said as he glanced at her again still wanting an answer. "He was just asking if we loved each other. That's it." She said as he sighed and shook his head as they pulled into the parking lot.

Brennan and Booth stood in the little room waiting for Zack to be brought in. They wanted to find out if he knew anything before they started asking around since the FBI had already removed the remains and sent them to Cam. Brennan sat at the table while Booth stood against the windowsill as they waited when finally, Zack walked in and he hugged Brennan before sitting down.

"I was not expecting for you to come visit me Agent Booth, although under the circumstances I see the reason for your visit." He said looking from Booth to Brennan.

"Yes. I was planning on coming in on Monday, but due to the recent events we thought it would be more beneficial if we spoke with you first." Brennan said as Booth just stood in his spot watching and listening.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Do you know who it is?" Booth asked finally but still stood where he was ten minutes ago as Zack explained everything he knew.

"No."

"The patients have Delirium and schizophrenia. There is no way to get a clear answer that is one hundred percent truth. These stories they are telling people about a man going to them in the middle of the night and abusing them could just be a hallucination caused by their mental states." Brennan explained.

"So none of that could have happened at all?"

"Correct." Zack said. "The state in which their minds have been currently sent does not allow for the ability to discern truth from lie, or reality from fantasy. There is no way of truly knowing."

"Ah, but there is." Booth said before he pulled his phone out. "Cam, check the victim for signs of any kind of abuse…." He paused listening as Brennan looked back at Zack who sat quietly. "What about the other victim?... right." He hung up and turned back to them.

"Did she find something?"

"There were some bruises but nothing much to go on so far. She is going to see what she finds and call me back. We're going to need to start talking to people."

"Are you able to visit for a while longer, Dr. Brennan?" Zack asked making Brennan glance at Booth who made no move to leave before she gave Zack a small smile and a nod.

"Yes. We will stay for a little while before we start working. I believe I need a rest anyhow, Parker had me running around as he tried to teach me how to play football."

"Football? That game that has no connection to actually using the ball on your foot?"

"Yes. It is actually quite difficult to grasp the ball and throw it without the rotation being off. Parker and I were throwing the ball back and forth."

"Is it wise to be running around and playing roughly with a child at that stage of your pregnancy?"

"I am more than capable of doing what I have been. I am worn out more quickly but that is the only issue I seem to have. Besides, I am only 19 weeks. It's hardly the time to worry."

"You are correct." Zack looked at Booth who was now looking out of the window. "It has been a while since I've seen you Agent Booth. Have things been well?" He asked making Booth look at him.

"Yeah, they've been pretty good, Zack. But I bet Bones already told you all of the good stuff." He said and saw Brennan give a small nod with a smile.

"Yes. It is very good to hear that you and she have become a couple. There were many people wanting to see this for a very long time. I would imagine they are very happy to hear that you are not only a couple but also expecting a child."

"Actually we haven't told anyone except Angela and Cam, and they both found out by accident." Brennan informed him. "We are trying to keep this quiet until after this case has been solved so that no one is thinking about anything but solving this case."

"Doesn't look like it's going to get solved any time soon." Booth said making both turn to look at him. "We now have four victims. Three from one hospital and one from here, and we have no leads, no evidence to go off of. This is not going to be over soon."

"You seem to be correct yet we have all figured cases out before with less. It only takes time to find the path." Zack told him as he watched Booth smirk as he went back to resting on the windowsill.

"Has Hodgins been giving you the case files again?" Brennan asked already knowing the answer.

"Yes. I feel as if I can still help you solve murders even though I have been locked up in here. Is that alright?"

"Yes, Zack. We miss your input back at the lab."

"Hodgins tells me the same thing." The two sat talking back and forth, as Booth stood to the side letting them have their time to talk. After a half hour his phone rang and he answered as the two continued to talk. Booth shut his phone and walked over slowly not wanting to take Brennan away but they had a job to do before they could sit around relaxing.

"Bones, we need to start." He said as he stood behind her. She nodded and paused.

"I'll come see you again as soon as I can, Zack." She said as they stood up and hugged "I'll bring you a picture of the baby next time." She said with a small smile making him smile back as they pulled apart. Brennan walked out and Booth stopped for a moment to talk to Zack quickly.

"I want you to call the lab if you hear or see anything. You can help us solve this case from the inside."

"I will. I also find I am very happy that you are with Dr. Brennan. And it feels like when I became an uncle for the first time when she told me about the baby. I am very happy and even excited." He said making Booth smirk and pat his shoulder before he left to catch up to Brennan who was waiting outside the door for him.

"Hi, I'm Jeff Fowler. I'm the manager here."

"Special agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan." He said showing his badge. "We would just like to look around and ask a few questions."

"Yes, whatever you need, though I'm afraid I can't tell you much more than I already told the police and the other agents. We were making morning rounds and Miss Hulse was found in her room. The Nurse is still a bit shaken up from the find but she is still on the floor if you would like to speak with her."

"Yes, we would like to speak with anyone who had contact with the victim in the last 24 hours." The manager nodded and went off to gather the information after he pointed out the room. Booth and Brennan walked down to the door that was taped off before they pulled it down and went in. They both stopped and looked around at the blood that was covering the floor and all of the items in the room.

"It looks like most of the concentration is on the bed." Brennan said walking farther into the room to look around. "What did Cam say was cause of death?"

"She said something about multiple stabs to arteries." Booth told her as he took a pair of gloves from her bag and started looking around as she did the same.

"There's nothing here." She said looking up at him.

"If there was a struggle there would be more things knocked over and broken. Something is definitely here."

Brennan and Booth sat in her office talking low as they ate take out and went over the files from the first hospital and the second to try to find a connection. Booth sighed as he threw his packet of information back onto the table. They had been sitting in the office for the last three hours looking at every letter on every piece of paper in the packets to try to find something to go on. Brennan set her packet on the table and leaned against the back of the couch as she looked at Booth.

"Booth there's nothing connecting the two. We need to find another way to find the connection." She said softly as she laid her head back.

"But where else could we look? There is no connection between nurses, doctors, managers, chemicals or any type of evidence to trace the two murders. What are we missing?" He looked off into the distance trying to think.

"We'll find it. We always do." Brennan said softly when his phone rang.

"Booth." He answered. "Yeah, I'll be right there." He hung up with a sigh as he looked at his watch. "They need me back at the office for some paperwork."

"Go and get that done so you're not getting calls in the middle of the night." She said as he scooted over to sit on the couch beside her.

"I'm not going to be long." He told her before he leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss before pulling away. "I'll meet you at home." He said with a small smile before he gave her another kiss, this one paused before they pulled back.

"Don't work too late. If I am not allowed to work then you aren't either. It's only fair and it's the deal we made." She said as she stood up with him as they pulled the files back together and put them in her bag as he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist gently as he leaned his head on her shoulder making her pause. "I thought you had to go to the office." She said making him sigh.

"Sounds like you're kicking me out." He said with a smirk.

"Go Booth before you get caught lying around and not doing work and before you get us caught and in trouble." She turned in his arms before she placed her hands on his chest before he pulled her to him in a deeper kiss before Angela cleared her throat making the two pull apart and looked at her.

"If you two are finished. I mean what's left? You already have a little Booth growing." She said with a smile as she walked in with a skull on a tray.

"I'll see you at home." Booth said before giving her a kiss on the cheek before leaving for his office. "Bye Angela." He said walking out leaving Angela to give Brennan a look she knew well from her past.

"What did you need Ange?" She asked pulling her friend back to reality.

"Oh, I wanted to make sure you're good with the tissue markers so I can get in here and get this reconstruction out of the way first thing in the morning." Brennan took a minute and started to go over the markers to make sure they were correct.

"Yes. They all seem to be placed correctly." She said nodding, as she stood straight. "Ange you should get some rest and not come in at nearly 6 in the morning to start working. We will solve this case as we have any other. You have a child to care for; there is no use tiring yourself un-necessarily."

"You shouldn't give lectures to others. Bren my baby is born and Hodgins can help. Yours is still inside of you growing. You're the only one who can take care of it for now."

"I know. I've been cutting my hours down and trying to come in a little later than normal, but this case has us running. Up at dawn and neither Booth nor I get to lay down until well after midnight every night. We need to solve this case and we'll all be able to relax."

"So you actually sleep at home even when you take all those files and papers home?"

"Yes. The FBI has been making Booth work late in the office so I grade a few papers and go over some of the files while I wait for him to get home."

"Just take it easy. These were the weeks that knocked me out. I had no energy to do anything and it was like my muscles were gone."

"Already there, Ange. Don't worry. I'm going home and I'm going to read over a few papers while I wait for Booth, and then we'll go to sleep."

"Yeah, sleep. Right. After what I interrupted, I would be surprised if you showed up at work in the morning." She said rolling her eyes as Brennan took her bag from the desk and shook her head at her friend before leaving.

Once at Booth's apartment she let herself in with the spare key he had given her. As she walked in she started turning the lights on and taking her jacket off before she laid on the soft couch to go over the paper work once more hoping they had missed something as she settled in waiting for Booth to come home.

After an hour Brennan sat up quickly as she laid the two folders side by side and looked between the two matching word for word, mark for mark as her eyes grew wide and she quickly stood grabbing the keys and her jacket before she was out the door and off to the second asylum to speak with Zack.

Brennan walked in and asked to see if Zack was awake to talk to only to have a tall man lead her through the hallways when a second man took over as Brennan gave a slight look of concern. She looked around before they reached a doorway and he suddenly spun on his heels and grabbed her. He pulled one arm up behind her and twisted it painfully as Brennan tried to resist. Soon she gave in and relaxed herself against the wall and the man smirked.

"Dr. Brennan. I've seen you wandering these halls too often. I know you've been wanting some private time, so I have a nice little spot to take you to where no one can find us." He grinned as she stomped his foot, slammed her elbow into his stomach as hard as she could and took off running as fast as she could. She reached another hallway as the man started after her. She ran into Zack before they moved into an empty room.

"Dr. Brennan?" Zack asked confused.

"Zack, you need to get to a safe place and call someone. That man out there is chasing after me. He is the killer; we need back up to get him taken down. Call Booth." She said before she quickly ran from the room and led the murderer away from Zack letting him have enough room and time to get to a phone to call for help. She prayed Booth could get to her in time as her energy started to drain even more.

"A little chase is a great idea. I love when women play hard to get." She heard before she ducked out of sight again letting him wander trying to find her in the cluttered hallway. "I'll find you and then we'll have a wonderful night together. Just me and you." Brennan tried to calm herself knowing that becoming hyped up on adrenaline was good for running but not so much for her train of thought. All she could do was pray that Zack was able to call Booth for help and that she could stay hidden until Booth arrived. As the man passed by a ways she darted from her spot and took off running again trying to keep the man busy so he could not keep track of where they had been and in plain sight of the security cameras. As she ran, he continued to call after her only to make her find another hiding spot.

This chase continued until Brennan felt about ready to pass out when suddenly she was grabbed and pulled from her spot. The man grinned sadistically as he tried to kiss her only to have her squirm to try to get free only to have her slammed backwards into the wall hard as she squirmed to get into a position to be able to fight back. She knew she needed to hold on just a little longer until Booth could arrive and save her. He slammed her back once again into the wall making her eyes slam shut with pain.

"I like a little fight but you need to calm down before you go where she is going." He threatened.

"Where who is going?" She asked as she tried to move to get away as she realized there was another women who was somewhere hurt and possibly dying. He chuckled as he held her to the wall harder as his hand closed around her throat and moved a large pocket knife to her belly. "You be good." He said as he started pulling at her clothes with the hand that was still holding the knife. Brennan took a breath and tried to get away only to have him slam her even harder into the wall making her head bounce. As the fog cleared, she heard a voice she knew without a doubt.

Zack was trying to remember Booth's number but the only number that he could remember was Hodgins.

"Hello?" He heard Hodgins answer sleepily.

"Hodgins-I-need-Booth's-number." He said quickly.

"Zack what's going on? When you talk that fast no normal, human being can understand you. We've been over that."

"I need Booth's number. Dr. Brennan is in trouble and she said to call him but I do not have his number. I need his number so he can come and save Dr. Brennan."

"Save Brennan from what, Zack?" Hodgins said sounding worried.

"There is a man here who Dr. Brennan said was the killer. He is chasing after her and-"

"What? Why didn't you say this to begin with? Just stay out of the way, I'll call Booth." The line went dead and Zack looked around before he started towards the front lobby to see if the night receptionist if she could call Sweets. Zack was trying to think of everyone he could call who could help in some way. He was now in an argument with the young woman who refused to call a doctor at 11 at night. After ten minutes of trying to get her to call the front door slammed open and Booth ran in.

"Where is she Zack?"

"She ran this way." He said before running off with Booth behind him while the Receptionist watched stunned. "She said that he was the killer and that he was after her and she ran this way after the directed me to find a safe place to call you. But when I found a safe place I remembered I did not know your number so I called Hodgins."

"I know." He said as they head a thud making them glace around the corner to see the man's back as he held Brennan to the wall. Booth saw him holding her to the wall with one hand around her throat before she tried to squirm and get free only to have him slam her back into the wall. Booth saw her head bounce as he drew his gun and quickly made his way over to them.

"Let her go." The man froze and glanced over his shoulder to see Booth holding his gun up as Zack stood not far behind him. "Johnson, let her go, now!" He demanded but Johnson looked back at Brennan as she started to open her eyes and squirm to get free again before she went very still with fear as he slowly pressed a knife to her belly and he started to squeeze his hand tighter around her throat.

"Let me go. You do not want to do this." Brennan said softly as she saw a sick and twisted grin start to spread across his face as she felt the blade slice into her skin and her eyes flicked to Booth before slamming shut with the pain of the blade cutting into her belly. Booth slowly made his way around and was finally able to see why Brennan had gone so still.

"Just put the knife down." He said as he aimed his gun at Johnson's hand. He started checking the scenario. Hand first to stop the knife, body next to drop him, he silently repeated in his head.

"No, you drop your gun. You are in no possession to tell me what to do. It seems that if you do not leave me be that she will go with her and the others. I will get what I want." Booth looked at Brennan as she tried to move before surprising a soft cry.

"What is going on?" Asked a night guard as he ran up to the four with his gun pulled. Johnson looked at the Guard as he ran over before he pulled his arm back quickly and was about to plunge the knife into Brennan's stomach when Booth shot his hand knocking the knife to the floor before another bullet was sent into the body dropping him to the ground as Brennan dropped. Booth grabbed her and eased her to the ground as he placed his hand on the small gash and looked over his shoulder.

"Zack, call for a couple ambulances." Booth said as he had Brennan's back against his chest and his arms wrapped around her to hold the gash.

"Booth, I'm okay." She said softly as her eyes drifted shut and her head lulled back.

"Bones…" He said as her grip on his arm loosened. "Bones, open your eyes." He said as she winced.

"I'm fine." She opened her eyes slightly before she turned her head to the side to look at Johnson lying on the ground holding his side.

"You're head." Booth said as he saw the Blood that was now caking her hair and his shirt. He pulled his right hand back to hold her head as he shifted to have her lying across his lap. Booth looked down at her worried as he held a hand over the bleeding wounds on her belly and her head.

"You look… Scared. Let's just go home." She said.

"Bones, he cut your stomach and you have a gash on the back of your head from the wall. You're going to the hospital." He said leaving no room for argument, but of course, she would not stand for that.

"Booth I am fine. It's only a couple scratches and I can patch it up when we get home. I'm fine." She said making him shake his head. "You can't treat me like a child." She told him angrily as all of her emotions swirled. She was relieved, and happy to see Booth show up and ecstatic that he had saved her life once again but she would be damned if she would sit around while he told her what to do.

"Temperance." He said with such worry, relief and a slew of other emotions running thick in his voice. "Just get checked out and go to the hospital. Just to prove you and the baby are okay." He said softly as she took a deep breath and lay back against him willing to go along with his demanding just this once. She laid the side of her head against his chest where she could hear his heart beat faster and faster.

"Booth…." She said looking up at him

Cam ran towards the hospital entrance as she saw Hodgins and Angela run over while a black SUV pulled to a screeching stop out front. The three friends met at the doors as Agent Ledger and Agent Miller jumped from the car and ran in with them. As soon as the young woman saw them, she pointed down the hallway where a Security guard was already on the move. The group did not hesitate as they took off after the guard. They started hearing muffled words before they heard two shots making them stop and look at each other worried before they started running faster. The five stopped as they turned the corner seeing Booth leaning against a wall with Brennan across his lap. He was looking down worried as Blood was covering his hand on her belly and was running down his hand and arm from her head wound. They stared shocked at the blood before Zack showed back up.

They watched as Booth leaned down and kissed her passionately making several stand shocked. Agents Miller and Ledger, as they could not believe that Booth would show signs of a relationship with his very own partner while two other agents stood only feet away.

"I'm okay. We're okay, Booth." She said softly as she started to run a hand over his cheek and jaw.

"I know, baby. I know." He said softly as the paramedics arrived. One set worked on keeping Johnson alive while the other went to Brennan and got to work as many stood still shocked at the show of emotion Booth had shown by kissing Brennan in front of everyone.

"She's 19 weeks pregnant." Booth said as he helped her up and onto the stretcher as she relaxed onto the mattress knowing Booth was right beside her and he refused to leave. As they loaded her into the ambulance and drove off to the hospital with the others following close behind, all wanting to know desperately what was going on as they settled in the waiting room after calling Sweets, Rus and Max.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Brennan sat on the ER stretcher after she had Starry-strips applied to her cleaned belly gash and her head has been cleaned needing only two stitches to hold the wound closed. Booth stood in front of her as they waited for the papers to release her. He leaned down and kissed her gently being broken apart as the curtain was thrown back and all of their friends and Brennan's brother and father ran in with the two agents following them. Angela nearly pushed Booth over as she pulled Brennan into a tight hug and the others gathered around.

"I'm fine Angela." Brennan said as she smiled and pulled away from her best friend. "The doctors only gave me two stitches for my head and they used Starry-strips for my stomach. He said that I have a little concussion but everything is fine." She smiled as Angela pulled her back into another hug.

"Sweetie we were scared. Zack calls in the middle of the night saying you're in danger and when we get there your bleeding and blood is all over…." She trailed off as Brennan gave her a squeeze and pulled back.

"You all didn't need to come to the hospital in the middle of the night." She said looking around as Rus stepped forward and hugged her.

"What were you doing at a mental hospital alone in the middle of the night?" He asked as he pulled back.

"I needed to talk to Zack about the case we are working on. I found a connection and I needed to know if he knew the person."

"You couldn't wait till morning?" Angela asked drawing her friend's attention as she took a seat next to her.

"No. I told you in my office before I left; we need to get this case finished so we can relax."

"You should have called for backup knowing that the murderer was working at both facilities." Agent Miller said making several look at him as others shook their heads. Brennan opened her mouth to answer him as she furrowed her brows but was cut off by Booth.

"You are working on this case to learn how to work with the squints not tell them what to do. If you start telling them what to do you'll find they do what they want anyway and never tell you or ask for help or back up."

"You tell them to do things. Besides, it's not normal for people without a badge or gun to endanger themselves and not ask for help; although it's not normal for an Agent to ignore the fraternizing rules either." Miller said making everyone look between the two agents as they remembered the kiss they had seen as Max, Rus and Sweets looked between Booth and Brennan. Brennan stood and walked over to stand in front of Booth angrily.

"The fraternizing rule is out dated and to be able to move forward in the constantly evolving world. Besides, if you tell the FBI about it then we could deny it. Who in their right mind would take apart a team who has solved more cases successfully than the entire building put together? If they sign a new agent, they had better start looking for a new Anthropologist and lab team. I've made it very clear of the past several years that I refuse to work a case without Booth." She paused and glanced up at him as he put his hands on her hips.

"Dr. Brennan is the only person I've met who is able to compartmentalize to the most extreme. And Agent Booth has been able to deal with his feeling since he developed them. I see no reason why they would not be able to continue to work together only because they have made their feelings known." Sweets said and looked at the two. "Besides I am their therapist. If there is a question about breaking up their partnership I would be consulted. I'm not stupid, they are the best team the FBI has ever had. There is no way I will have anything to do with them being broken apart." He smirked at Miller who looked around.

"Miller, there's one thing you need to learn." Ledger said as he looked at his partner. "I've been in the FBI for the last three years and I've seen teams who fall apart and cause problems, but when you see a team of people who hold together so well and do their jobs as well as this team… you don't do anything to compromise it."

"What are you saying? The rules are in place for a reason, we ignore them now who knows what else gets ignored." Miller said looking at his partner shocked that he was willing to let the broken rule go. He looked to see everyone standing ready to defend as Brennan leaned back into Booth as he slid his arms completely around her.

"If you don't like how the team works then you can always leave. There is no shame in leaving a situation or group that you do not fit into." Sweets said as Miller looked at him before he turned and left and the group was able to get back to making sure Brennan was alright, as Brennan moved out of Booth's arms before Rus or Max noticed how they were standing

"What was he talking about fraternizing with your partner?" Rus asked Booth as he stood back with Max and Sweets while the others spoke with Brennan.

"You and Tempe finally admitted it. Didn't you?" Max asked as Booth looked over at Brennan before he gave Max a nod, not really knowing what to say to the man. "It's about damn time." He said with a smile as Rus looked between the two.

"Are you saying that you and Tempe are together?" He asked shocked as Booth gave another nod and Max chuckled. The two men walked over to talk to Brennan about what they had just been told leaving Sweets to walk closer to Booth.

"So how did Agent Miller and Agent Ledger know?" Sweets asked curiously

"I, uh, may have kissed Bones in front of them." Booth said looking at Brennan as she smiled at something someone said, before glancing at Sweets who stood staring, completely shocked and unmoving. "You okay Sweets?" He asked as the young psychologist blinked and brought himself back from his stupor.

"You did what? What did they do?" He asked as Booth smirked at the man's shock and interest at the same time.

"They didn't do anything. As soon as it was over the paramedics showed up and brought us here. It's not that big of a deal." He shrugged.

"If you want to keep this quiet then I think it is a big deal a mega big deal." Booth looked at him as he revered back to his teen-like speech indicated he was talking as a friend and not as a professional FBI psychologist.

"it's not like anything can be done against us. Like Bones said. We just deny it everyone acts normal and we're fine."

"Booth, depending on who this gets to, if this, goes to high they could bypass the questions and just fire you. Even if it doesn't get very high this could cause every case you work together even more difficult. Every choice, thought, movement and breath will be monitored." Booth looked at him and shrugged.

"No one has to know anything."

"What happens if you go farther in your relationship? Get married have children? Things that people will notice." He said making Booth's head snap back to look at him. "I won't say anything about anything between you. My job is to make sure you are able to perform your jobs. As long as you are still solving cases as well as you have been, there is no need for anything to be done." Booth glanced at Brennan before looking at Sweets,

"Sweets, you know that's not gonna happen. I mean Bones…. She doesn't even believe in marriage." He said as she Sweets shrugged and walked over to join the others talking.

Booth and Brennan walked into a hospital room to see Johnson, handcuffed to the bed and dozing. The Nurse stood next to them as she started explaining about him and what was going on.

"We were able to retrieve the bullet and stitch him up. We have received his medical records and found that he had been diagnosed with Schizophrenia three years ago. His records say he was placed on several medications for his illness but when we ran his blood work there was not even a little trace of any drug in his system."

"He most likely stopped taking his medication slightly before Danielle was murdered." Brennan concluded.

"We have him on medication to try to bring him back from his dilutions but he's been a bit lethargic. I have the doctor ordering another one to try so he will be able to function better."

"Thanks." Booth said to the nurse as she nodded and left the two alone in the room with Johnson as he started to open his eyes.

"You." He said softly as he opened his eyes a little more. "You were in my dream. You were being hurt." He said softly as Booth looked at Brennan as she walked closer to the man.

"That was not a dream Richard." She said standing beside his bed. "You stopped your schizophrenia medication and began hallucinating. You acted upon your dilutions and cause a lot of pain."

"I… I did that? But, it was just like a dream…" He said looking at her unbelieving before she took the file Booth was holding while he waited, letting her speak to the man, knowing his temper was slightly shorter than normal from this man hurting Brennan.

"You remember Stephanie Hulse. She was 22 years old a patient at West End Federal Psychiatric Hospital. She was found in her room only a few weeks ago. She was stabbed multiple times cutting arteries. She died from blood loss."

"I don't know." He said as Brennan held up the picture before showing him a different one.

"What about Sara Fetters? She was 29 years old, a patient at Edgewood Mental Hospital and pregnant. She was gutted and stabbed multiple times before she and her mutilated baby were thrown off the side of the road." She held up a third picture. "Danielle Stevens was 36. She was beat and had her head smashed against a door at the hospital."

"I….. I…" He cried out looking away as Brennan pulled the last picture from the folder.

"What did Collin Jennings do? He was just 4 years old when you killed him by slicing his throat."

"What happened, Richard?" Booth asked walking closer to the end of the bed. "What did these women and that boy do to you to make you kill them?"

"No. It wasn't me…. It was only a dream…." He said shaking his head.

"It wasn't a dream." Booth said harshly. "You murdered three women and two children and you went after my partner. This was not a dream or one of your dilutions." The man looked at him horrified. "I saw you attacking my partner. That was real."

"I didn't know… I swear. Alisa said it was a dream. I swear." Booth looked at Brennan.

"Alisa?" Brennan asked

"Alisa Navarro. She's my fiancé. She will be here soon." He said with a small smile. "She said that it was just dreaming. I didn't mean to hurt them. I was just dreaming." He said as Brennan glanced at Booth as he stepped out of the room to call Ledger.

"Richard. You told me that I was going to go where she was. Who were you talking about. Was there someone in your dream right before me?" She asked trying to find out information as he became increasingly frustrated that they insisted it was real. He looked at her a moment as she watched him before he thought and tried to remember.

"A pretty little thing. She had dark blond hair that was just below her shoulders and her eyes… she looked at me with beautiful clear blue eyes. Just like yours. They are very beautiful." He said making her furrow her brows.

"Richard I need to know where she was."

"I don't know…. she was in a little room… I can't remember. I just remember being mad and Alisa telling me to punish her. Punish her like the others. Like…. Like they deserved for medaling around in our business." He said as anger seeped into his voice. "I…. I punished them like she said." He nodded as Booth walked back in and Richard looked away not wanting to talk anymore. Brennan gathered the pictures and put them back in the file before she started walking out with Booth following her.

"What did you get?" He asked walking beside her as they made their way out to the car.

"When he was holding me he said that I was going to go where she was going. I tried to ask but he started pulling at my clothes and then you showed up. I just asked him about it all he could say was she's in a little room, has dark blond hair and blue eyes. He only remembers being mad and Alisa telling him to punish them."

"Then we need to track down this Alisa. She should know where this woman is." Brennan nodded as they reached the car.

Booth sat with the Jeffersonian team and Agent Ledger in the FBI conference room going over every piece of information they had collected during this case. Miller was missing and Booth knew why. The man had disapproved of rule breaking and refused to have anything to do with it. They had told him that if he felt the need to do something, request removal from the team. Cullen would understand, as he knew how the squints could be to normal people. They were trying to find hard evidence that Johnson had committed each crime, evidence to lead them to who Alisa Navarro was and evidence to find the 5th victim. They had already been at it for three hours with no luck when the door slid open and Zack walked in with Sweets following him. They all looked up shocked.

"I thought we could use a little extra help on the case and the meeting rooms at the hospital are not big enough." Sweets told them before Brennan jumped to her feet and hugged Zack tightly before pulling back with a bright smile as a tear slid down her cheek making her turn quickly trying to conceal the emotions she couldn't hold in check.

"What would you like me to work on first, Dr. Brennan?" He asked as she turned away and started walking back to the table. No one seemed to notice except Booth and Angela, as Brennan would not lift her head to look at anyone. She went through a stack of papers before telling Zack what to do.

"Just find irrespirable proof that Johnson did everything." She turned back towards the door. "I'll be back." She said as her voice waved and she moved quickly from the room. Booth got to his feet and went after her, as the others continued to work oblivious as Angela sighed softly knowing Booth would take care of her.

Another two hours passed and Booth and Brennan had come back and started working again when Zack stood up making everyone look at him.

"There is a bleach container tucked away in this picture. It is on the other end of the floor. You said that the first victim was doused in Bleach before being left at the complex. There could possibly be DNA evidence on the bottle." Zack said handing the picture to Brennan and Booth walked up behind her and was looking over her shoulder.

"This is why we have squints." Booth said with a smirk.

"I merely only caught something that your men at the FBI failed to find, even though the canister is placed in a semi open area." Zack said as Booth looked at him and shook his head.

"Don't push it Zack. See what else you can find, Bones and I will go get that bottle." Booth told everyone.

"Agent Booth. May I accompany you and Dr. Brennan to the crime scene? I may be of more assistance. Brennan looked at Booth as if silently pleading for him to allow it. Booth glanced at Sweets who only shrugged.

"Let's go, robo-boy." Booth said as he turned and walked out with Brennan, Zack and Ledger following him.

"You are the one who was placed in the psychiatric hospital?" Ledger asked as they walked out of the building.

"Yes. My name is Zack Addy."

"I'm Keith Ledger."

"Great you two know each other, let's get going so we can close this case." Booth said getting in the car as Brennan gave him one of her special little smiles as she walked around to climb in the passenger side.

It only took ten minutes to get to the apartment complex which had been closed off for the investigation. Booth and Brennan led the way as Zack and Ledger followed. Again, they needed to take a break at the ninth floor of the building. Booth leaned against the wall trying to get a second wind before they started again only to have Zack point and stare as he walked over.

"The wall. We are tired going up nine floors to get to the 11th. The killer would have been carrying a dead body up the flights of stairs he was bound to get tired. He would have rested on one of the landings to catch his breath before starting back up again. If he was perspiring, which I assume he would have considering he was carrying-"

"Zack." Booth said making him look at him while Ledger looked lost. "Your point?"

"He would have left DNA on one of the flights of stairs." Brennan said looking at Booth as if she was upset with herself for not seeing it sooner and extremely happy to have Zack back with her, even if it was temporary.

"He would have left perspiration on the walls and hand rails and he would have laid the body down while he tried to get relax slightly before beginning to climb. You may be able to find blood where he had laid her while he paused." Zack added as Brennan hugged him before she started running down the stairs again.

"Bones!" Booth called after her. "Ledger get the bottle and let him look around a bit but he doesn't touch anything." Booth said before looking over the side seeing Brennan already down two flights. "Understand?" He asked Zack who nodded as Booth started after Brennan, calling for her to wait. Zack and Ledger started walking up to the 11th floor to get the bottle and to look around hoping Zack would be able to find more evidence the FBI had missed in their initial search.

Brennan looked at Booth as he finally caught up to her. She turned and started again with him beside her asking what she was doing as they moved quickly.

"I need to get my light from my bag and I need the lights turned off in the stairwell. If there is blood present, I will be able to find it where they body was laid while he took a break and that will be where we find his DNA on the wall and railing." She said happily, as Booth smirked. The two went to the car parked out front where she grabbed her light and they went back in after Booth had made it to the basement to turn the lights off. Brennan turned her light on and the two started walking up the stairs once again only much slower this time. They reached the sixth floor when Brennan stopped. Booth looked at where Brennan was pointing the light.

"Whoa. That's a lot of blood." He said looking at the stain that had pooled on the landing. "Looks like someone tried to clean it up."

"That would be why he had the bleach here. He must have tried to clean up everything and poured what he could on the body. So if the body is resting mostly against the railing….."

"He would have leaned against the wall…." Booth said taking her light and aiming it at the wall where they could see a large mark. "let's take a sample and get it tested." He said as she took the samples she could from the wall and the floor before going up to meet Zack and Ledger, who were on their way down.

"Were you able to discern where the murderer took a break?" Zack asked as they walked ahead of the two agents.

"Yes I was able to positively identify the landing that the killer stopped on. He seems to have laid the remains down against the railing as he leaned back against the wall. I was able to collect several samples for Hodgins to examine and match."

"Agent Ledger has the bleach container that will most definitely have the murderer's finger prints on it." Brennan smiled as she walked beside her favorite intern turned co-worker.

"It's good to have you back Zack." She smiled as he nodded.

"I must admit I do miss being in the field with you and Agent Booth instead of sitting in the room with Hodgins talking about the cases. Or going over the case files he gives me to try to help." Booth smirked at how happy Brennan was as Ledger followed along curious of how Booth was able to work for so many years with a group of people that most of society could not even understand, let alone for him to fall in love with one of them. The four went back to the lab as Brennan called the others to have them gather the files and meet them there.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Booth watched with Sweets and Ledger beside him as the Jeffersonian team jumped into action as Ledger stood beside him watching with curiosity. Cam went back to look at the victims who had flesh while Brennan and Zack ran to the bone room. Angela went on to try to match the pictures she sketched from Johnson's description, and Hodgins started on the samples.

"They know exactly where to go and what to do so fast." Ledger said as he watched.

"Yeah, one thing about them is you have to intervene after a while." Booth said as he walked off towards the overlook lounge.

"Intervene?"

"Yeah, they don't stop working. Most cases Angela has to drag Hodgins home and then I have to get Bones to stop working. They are the worst ones out of the team; the others want to get home."

"How long does it take to get them to stop? I mean it took only a minute of explanation of what we found for them to jump into work."

"It depends on the case and the information we've already found. It can take from about a half hour to a few hours for Bones. I don't know how long it takes Angela."

"The same for you, Agent Studly." They heard making them look at her as she walked over. "Finger prints are an exact match to Richard Johnson. They are definitely on the bottle. I'm still trying to find a name to match the face but nothing is coming up."

"Thanks Ange." Booth said as she nodded and walked back down to her office as Booth turned to lean on the railing as Ledger did the same and Sweets sat at the table.

"Studly?" Ledger asked amused as Booth gave a small chuckle.

"Angela is not afraid to say anything. Just be prepared, I'm sure she's getting a name for you. She has a few for me." He looked back as Angela walked back into her office. "You seem like you're doing well with them though."

"Yeah, I think I'm doing okay. It's hard understanding them sometimes and at points they are difficult to deal with. How have you been able to do this with them for the last seven years?" He asked as Booth smirked.

"They're my family." He looked at Ledger. "We've been through some tough times together and we stuck by each other. Over time we became a little family of misfits."

"Misfits? Really now?" Booth smirked.

"We all have our histories. Our stories." Sweets said as he walked over to them and leaned on the other side of Ledger.

"Our scares, secrets, fears, and lives." Booth continued.

"Scars, Secrets and lives?" Ledger asked confused as Sweets nodded.

"I was adopted when I was six years old. I was beat as a little kid and then two older people adopted me. They passed away just before I started at the FBI." Sweets said looking away thinking about his parents before he looked at Booth who stood still looking out at the lab.

"I was a sniper in the army. Took too many lives than I like, now I work with Bones to find murderers to make up for the kills I took." Sweets looked away knowing there was so much more to Booth's past but knew it was not his place to say anything.

"What about the others?"

"Hodgins rules the Cantilever Group, and he's filthy rich. Angela is the life of the party and they have a son Michael. Zack is a human computer, but that backfired for him when he killed someone for a cannibal. And Bones….." Booth stopped as he let out a deep breath and shook his head. "You want to know about Bones, you're going to have to ask her. The reasons for her to be in the little family are deeper than most of us. It's nothing others should repeat." Booth said softly as Sweets nodded.

"So why are you the only one who calls her Bones?" He asked making Booth chuckle and shake his head.

"She absolutely hated it when we first met. She was always yelling at me until she gave in."

"Because you refused to stop." Brennan called up as she looked up at them. "No matter how much I fought and yelled at you, you would not stop calling me Bones."

"You like it." He said making her smirk and shake her head.

"Keep it up and I'll make a name for you."

"We saw how well that worked out last time."

"Would you just get down here?" She said putting her hands on her hips as he chuckled and turned leading the other two men down to the ground. "Angela has a recreation of what happened with the victims." She said as they walked over to her. The four walked into Angela's office where she stood looking at her screen typing things in before they gathered around to watch the reconstructions.

An hour later, they were just finishing when Hodgins walked in happily.

"I ran the samples you gathered and the results finally came in." Angela handed him the remote and he pulled up his information before explaining. "The samples from the wall were a positive match to the DNA samples taken from Johnson. The Samples from the floor were a positive match to the first victim but there were small amounts of DNA from another source. I ran the sample through as many tests as I could to try to isolate it and identify it-"

"Hodgins, just tell us what you found." Angela said making him sigh.

"I was able to match the small samples to our second victim. There were only trace amounts so it is likely that the DNA was transferred by Johnson."

"We have enough for at least these two murders." Ledger said as Hodgins smiled.

"No we have enough hard evidence to convict him for all four murders."

"All four?"

"There was blood on his knife. The samples were positively ID-ed as victim number 2, 3, and 4. We also were able to gather DNA from under the fourth victim's nails and he cut his arm during the last attack."

"So there's no way he is getting off."

"Not unless he pleads insanity, then he will only be placed in an institution until they get his medication leveled and he is released back into society to stop his medication and begin all over again." Brennan said angrily. "Was there anything that can help us find the 5th victim?" She asked trying to calm herself.

"There are traces of blood that were not placed with anyone we know of. I have the sample running now. It shouldn't be too much longer before we get the results." Hodgins said when the screen started blinking making them all look at the opened the file.

"Looks like we have our mystery victim." Angela said.

"Stacy Patterson, age 24." Ledger read. "Chronic thief?"

"That would explain when she is in the federal hospital." Booth said as he started writing down the information he saw on the screen. "Hodgins was there anything that didn't fit everything?"

"No, but I'll keep looking and see what I can find." He went off to work when they heard someone else walk in.

"Dr. Brennan, I was able to look back over the remains but I was unable to find anything that I didn't see on my first inspection." Wendell said as Brennan nodded.

"Thank you Mr. Bray." He nodded and walked back out as Brennan closed her eyes before walking out making Booth follow behind her. The team was working hard and they were hot on the tracks of finding the missing victim. They were not going to stop until they found the information they needed.

Four hours later Brennan was laying on the couch with her head on Booth's lap as he was going over papers to see if he could trace anything to a specific place when Ledger walked in and stopped when he saw Brennan sleeping with her head in Booth's lap.

"You find something?" Booth asked as he looked at the other agent.

"Hodgins thinks he found something." He said as Booth nodded and tossed the papers onto the table before he started to wake Brennan.

"Bones." He said as she shifted in her sleep. "Hodgins found something." He said before she sat straight up as she rubbed her eyes.

"What did he find?" She asked.

"Let's go find out." He said standing up and walking out with her and Ledger following to find Hodgins in his room with Zack. "You found something?"

"Kind of." He said turning back around to look at his computer.

"Kind of? Hodgins, you better have something or I'm going to shoot you." He warned as Hodgins glanced at him.

"There were particles of Black mold found on all of the victims." He said as Booth looked at him waiting for an explanation. "The only hospital that Johnson had been in or around that had black mold was the Edgewood one." He looked at Booth.

"Hodgins, you realize I'm a good shot, right?"

"The black mold was only at the first hospital but was found on all of the victims including Stephanie Hulse who was killed and found in her room at the feds hospital." Booth turned and started dialing his phone as he walked out of the room.

"You know Booth has a short temper on cases like this, why did you make him threaten to shoot you before you just told him what he wanted?" Brennan asked as Hodgins shrugged.

"It's not like he would actually do it." Hodgins said with a smirk. "Right?" He asked as Brennan looked at him before turning and walking out leaving the three men to look at each other. "Booth wouldn't really shoot me, right?" He asked again as Ledger smirked and left.

A half hour later Zack and Hodgins ran into Brennan's office where she was sitting on the couch with Cam in a chair, Ledger in another and Booth and Angela on either side of her as they were going over paper work.

"I was able to identify another particulate that was found on Stephanie Hulse. It's asbestos. She had the particulates all over her like she was rolling in it and so did Johnson's clothes that he had on when he was arrested."

"But I found out what it means and how it helped the case." Zack broke in. "There are a number of places still using asbestos. However, there are only a handful of hospitals in the DC area to still contain asbestos. I was able to search and narrow down the places that the 5th victim could be and I was able to only find one match in the DC area. West End Federal Psychiatric Hospital." He said with a smile as he watched their reactions. Booth, Ledger and Brennan jumped to their feet and started out of the door.

"Good work Zack." Brennan said as she walked past the two.

"King of the Lab." Zack called as Hodgins looked at him not amused before walking away.

Booth, Ledger and Brennan arrived at the federal hospital in a matter of twenty minutes. They walked in and followed Brennan as she was on the phone with Hodgins to find out exactly where they needed to go to find the asbestos.

"Okay, thank you Hodgins." She said before hanging up. "He said with older structures such as this one the asbestos will most likely be in the basement." The three moved through the empty halls and down the stairs to the basement. Booth reached out stopping Brennan as they heard movement from a room to the side.

"Bones…"

"Booth we have Johnson in custody, he was acting alone." She said as she pulled from his grip and walked over to the door as Booth huffed and followed with Ledger behind him. Brennan tried to open the door and only find it locked. "Booth you should break it down." She said as he looked at her for a second. He shook his head pulling a little pouch from his pocket as he put his gun in its holster and he started to pick the lock. He looked at Ledger who gave a nod before Booth threw that door open and they moved in. Brennan went to the half-unconscious woman and started to untie her.

"Bones?" He asked as she checked to make sure the woman was still alive.

"She's still breathing but she's injured badly." He nodded before he called for an ambulance and Brennan was looking over the injuries. It only took a few minutes for the paramedics to arrive and get to work leaving Booth, Ledger and Brennan to move out of the way to let them work and take her to the hospital.

The entire group sat together at the Founding Fathers all celebrating another successful case closed. Booth leaned back at everyone sat talking, even Ledger had joined them and was chatting along as if he had been a part of the group for a while. He looked at Brennan as she smiled and leaned over to lean against him.

"So she told them everything?" Hodgins asked.

"She told Caroline every detail of what she heard and saw and what he did to her. He's not getting out any time soon." Booth told him.

"Why wasn't anything done before now?" Cam asked.

"She never told anyone what he had been doing to her over the last few years. She was the only one out of the victims who would have been believable if she had spoken up. The others did report it but they were never taken seriously."

"Can't something be done about that?" Angela asked feeling sorry for the victims.

"Caroline is pulling something's together. She said there are a few charges she can pull against the hospital, the management, and the social workers who ignored the reports. They could face some jail time if things go through."

"That's at least something for the victims." Angela said as talk started up with the others as Booth shifted and kissed Brennan's cheek.

"Think we should tell them, or let them find out on their own?" Booth asked her quietly.

"We should tell them. This way they can be prepared. You know we can hide this as long as we want, but they should all know." She said as he laid her head on his shoulder and watched the others talking. He smirked and kissed the top of her head.

"You want them to know, so you can tell them." He said before taking another drink of his beer as she pulled away to look at him with a sigh.

"That seems only fair." She looked back at her friends before she tried to think of how to tell them.

"Just start passing around that ultrasound picture. They'll catch on." He whispered in her ear as she looked at him, their faces only inches apart before they leaned in kissing quickly before she reached for her wallet on the table and started digging through. Finally, she found it and smiled. She leaned closer to Angela and held the picture out to her as a bright grin spread across her face as she took the picture and started to show Hodgins. Slowly talk died down and interest peeked as they sat wondering what the paper was. Angela smiled and handed it to Cam whose face lit up as she looked at the picture. Slowly she showed Ledger, Zack and Sweets. Zack nodded and smirked, as Ledger looked slightly confused while Sweets stared at Booth who took another drink of his beer with a smirk while his one arm rested on the back of Brennan's chair.

"Is this…?" Sweets started as Booth just looked at him. "Dr. Brennan?" He asked as Brennan smiled and nodded.

"Yes. That is our child." She smiled, as he looked even more shocked than he did when he found out they were dating.

"That was fast." Ledger said as he went back to drinking his beer.

"Not really, considering she's been pregnant through the entire investigation." Cam said looking at the others as Sweets looked about ready to pass out.

"I am 21 weeks so far." She told them.

"Did you find out what it is? We had a choice when I was pregnant with Michael but we wanted to find out when he was born." Angela said as Brennan looked at Booth.

"We decided to know." Brennan smiled at her friend. "This way we can properly prepare with items and names."

"So what is it?"

"A girl." Booth said and watched Angela and Brennan hug tightly before talk of a little girl broke out across the table. The little family of misfit had gained another agent, gotten Zack back at the Jeffersonian after Sweets worked things out, once again solved a difficult case and was now talking excitedly about a new baby, life couldn't get any better than this.


End file.
